1950 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1950:

Events

• Arrow Air is founded.
• The Brazilian Navy begins to reestablish an air arm of its own when an aeronautics directorate is created within the Ministry of the Navy.^[1]

January

• January 3 – A Pan American World Airways Boeing 377 Stratocruiser makes the first commercial nonstop flight from Tokyo, Japan, to Honolulu, Hawaii.^[2]
• January 5 – Attempting to land at Koltsovo Airport at Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union's Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic during a heavy snowstorm with high winds, a Soviet Air Force Lisunov Li-2 crashes, killing all 19 people on board. Almost the entire Soviet Air Force ice hockey team, VVS Moscow – 11 players, a team physician, and a masseur – dies in the crash.
• January 26 – A United States Air Force Strategic Air Command C-54D-1-DC Skymaster with 44 people on board disappears without trace over Canada's Yukon Territory near Snag during a flight from Elmendorf Air Force Base outside Anchorage, Territory of Alaska, to Great Falls Air Force Base in Cascade County, Montana. No wreckage or bodies are ever found.
• January 31
  • The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff estimate that the Soviet Union will have 10 to 20 atomic bombs by mid-1950 and 70 to 135 by mid-1953, and recommends that the United States Air Force's air defense capability in the United States be increased from 30 to 67 squadrons.^[3]
  • President of the United States Harry S. Truman announces that he has ordered the United States Government to develop the hydrogen bomb.^[4]

February

• Early February – A U.S. Weapon Systems Evaluation Group reports that the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command would suffer heavy losses in an air offensive against the Soviet Union, with the most favorable assumptions allowing 70 to 85 percent of atomic bombs to be delivered to their targets. It estimates bomber losses of about 35 percent in night raids and 50 percent in daylight raids, and that the bombers could deliver the planned 292 atomic bombs called for in the initial attack but would suffer losses too high to allow the follow-on strikes with conventional bombs required by U.S. war plans.^[5]
• February 13 – A U.S. Air Force B-36B Peacemaker bomber participating in the first full-scale practice for a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union suffers the failure of all six of its engines during a mission to simulate a Soviet nuclear attack on San Francisco, California. The crew jettisons the Mark 4 atomic bomb the plane is carrying, which detonates over the Pacific Ocean in the first loss of a nuclear weapon, then bails out – which 12 of the 17 men on board survive – over Princess Royal Island, British Columbia, Canada, leaving the plane to fly on autopilot out over the Pacific Ocean and crash. Instead, some of its engines apparently recover power on their own, and the bomber flies unmanned for several hours and crashes on a remote mountainside in northern British Columbia; this remains unknown until it is discovered lying almost intact on the mountain in 1953.
• Mid-February – A U.S. military Joint Advanced Study Committee reports that the United States will have to rely heavily on atomic weapons in achieving its strategic objectives in a war with the Soviet Union, with early atomic strikes critical during a war. It finds that the U.S. Air Force will have to strike Soviet atomic bomb assembly and stprage sites and Soviet Air Force long-range bomber bases early in a conflict to protect the United States from Soviet atomic attacks.^[6]
• Late February – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that at the beginning of a war the Soviet Air Force could field 1,725 long-range bombers and 18,325 other aircraft and that the Soviet Navy could deploy 3,225 aircraft, while the United States Navy could deploy four fleet aircraft carriers off Europe. It notes that the U.S. Air Force has 14 bomber and 6⅔ fighter groups.^[6]

March

• Sixty aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) make a tight-formation flyover over Saigon in the State of Vietnam to encourage the population and government there to support the French in French Indochina and oppose the expansion of communism, beginning U.S. aid to the French in the region.^[7]
• March 7 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307, a Martin 2-0-2, hits a flagpole and crashes into a house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while on approach to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, klling all 13 people aboard the plane and two children in the house.
• March 12 – The Llandow air disaster occurs, as the Avro Tudor V airliner Star Girl (G-AKBY) on a private charter flight from Dublin, Ireland, crashes on final approach to Lladow aerodrome in South Wales. Three passengers survive, but 80 people (75 passengers and all five crew members) die in the worst aviation accident in history to that time.
• March 20 – Royal Air Force Avro Lincoln bombers are sent to Singapore to be used against the Communist guerillas of Malaya in the Malayan Emergency.

April

• April 5 – To demonstrate support for the government of Synghman Rhee in South Korea, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) arrives in the Yellow Sea off Inchon, South Korea, and flies her F9F Panther, F4U Corsair, and AD Skyraider aircraft over the city in a show of strength.^[8]
• April 8 – A Soviet Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name "Fang") fighter shoots down a United States Navy PB4Y Privateer maritime patrol aircraft over the Baltic Sea. The Privateer's entire crew of 10 men dies.
• April 18 – The world's first flight by a turboprop-powered flying boat takes place, when the U.S. Navy's Convair XP5Y-1, prototype of the R3Y Tradewind, flies for the first time at San Diego, California.^[9][10]

June

• June 1 – British European Airways commences the first regular passenger service to be flown by helicopter, between Liverpool and Cardiff.
• June 12 – The Air France Douglas DC-4 Ciel de Picardie crashes into the Persian Gulf southeast of Bahrain while on approach to land there after a flight from Karachi, killing 46 of the 52 people on board.
• June 14 – The Air France Douglas DC-4 Ciel de Gascogne crashes into the Persian Gulf southeast of Bahrain while on approach to land there after a flight from Karachi, killing 40 of the 53 people on board. The crash occurs within a mile (1.6 km) of the virtually identical Air France crash two days earlier.
• June 19 – The U.S. Navy Martin JRM-2 Mars flying boat Caroline Mars sets a new record for the number of passengers carried in a single aircraft over the Pacific Ocean, carrying 144 men on a 2,609-mile (4,201-km) flight from San Diego, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii.^[11]
• June 23 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501, a Douglas DC-4, crashes into Lake Michigan 18 miles (29 km) north-northwest of Benton Harbor, Michigan, after entering a squall line and turbulence, killing all 58 people on board. It is the deadliest commercial airliner accident in American history at the time.
• June 25
  • The Korean War breaks out as North Korea invades South Korea. The North Korean Air Force totals 210 mostly obsolete Soviet-made planes. The South Korean Air Force has 16 planes, 13 of them observation aircraft.^[12]
  • The United States Air Force begins evacuating American citizens from South Korea.
• June 26 – The Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 Amana crashes northwest of York, Western Australia, killing all 28 people on board. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident and deadliest civil aviation accident in Australian history at the time.
• June 27
  • Flying a North American F-82 Twin Mustang, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant William G. "Skeeter" Hudson shoots down a North Korean Air Force Yakovlev Yak-9, the first air-to-air kill of the Korean War.^[13]
  • U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortresses of the 19th Bombardment Group attack Seoul railway station and the bridge over the Han River in the first strategic bombing mission of the Korean War.
  • U.S. Air Force C-47 Skytrains and C-54 Skymasters evacuate U.S. nationals from Korea.^[14]
  • Japan-based PBM-5 Mariners of Patrol Squadron 47 (VP-47) begin the first U.S. Navy maritime air patrols of the Korean War.^[15]
• June 28 – U.S. Air Force B-26 Invaders fly the first United Nations strike mission into North Korea.
• June 29 – Eight C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft cross the Pacific Ocean from the United States to French Indochina to deliver the first American military aid to French forces fighting against the Vietminh in the First Indochina War.^[16]
• June 30 – F-51 Mustangs of the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 77 Squadron are sent to Korea as part of Australia's contribution to the United Nations forces in the Korean War.

July

• July 1 – The United States Air Force discontinues the Air Defense Command.^[17]
• July 3–4 – Aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) make the first U.S. carrier strikes since World War II ended on 15 August 1945, with F4U Corsairs, AD Skyraiders, and F9F Panthers hitting targets around Pyongyang, North Korea. The F9Fs of Fighter Squadron 51 (VF-51) become the first U.S. jet fighters to go into combat, destroying three enemy aircraft on the ground in their first strike on July 3.^[18][19] They also shoot down two North Korean Yak-9 fighters; Lieutenant junior grade Leonard H. Plog becomes the first U.S. Navy jet pilot to score an aerial victory. It is the combat debut for both the Skyraider and the Panther.^[20] On July 3, Supermarine Seafires of 800 Naval Air Squadron and Fairey Fireflys of No, 827 Sqn from HMS Triumph fly the first non-U.S. sorties over Korea, striking Haeju.
• July 4 – Seafires and Fireflies from Triumph strikes targets of opportunity in Korea, including a railway bridge and a column of North Korean troops.^[21]
• July 6 – U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 46 (VP-46), based at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, begins maritime air patrols of the Taiwan Strait and coast of China to guard against any People's Republic of China action against Taiwan while the Korean War is raging.^[22]
• July 8 – U.S. Navy P2V-3 Neptunes of Patrol Squadron 6 (VP-6) begin air patrols along the east coast of Korea.^[22]
• July 16 – Okinawa-based U.S. Navy PB4Y-2 Privateers of Patrol Squadron 28 (VP-28) begin patrols of the coast of the People's Republic of China.^[22]
• July 18 – The Peruvian Aviation Corps is reorganized to become the Peruvian Air Force.^[23]
• July 18–19 – AD Skyraiders and F4U Corsairs from the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) make the first naval air strikes along the east coast of Korea, hitting targets from near Pyonggang and Wonsan north to Hungnam and Hamhung, striking railroads, industrial plants, and airfields. At Wonsan, Skyraiders completely destroy an oil refinery, which burns for days.^[24][25] Aircraft from HMS Triumph provide a combat air patrol and antisubmarine patrols for Task Force 77 during the strikes.^[21]
• July 22 – AD Skyraiders and F4U Corsairs from the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) strike targets near Haeju and Inchon, Korea,^[24]
• July 23 – Ferrying 150 U.S. Air Force F-51 Mustang fighters^[26] to Japan, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) crosses the Pacific Ocean in record time, steaming from Alameda, California, to Yokosuka, Japan, in 8 days 16 hours.
• July 25 – Near the Lebanese-Israeli border, an Israeli military aircraft fires on a Middle East Airlines Douglas Dakota aircraft flying from Jerusalem to Beirut, killing the Dakota's radio operator, Antoine Wazir, in his seat in the cockpit.
• July 28 – A U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress mistakenly shoots down a British Seafire of No. 800 Squadron from HMS Triumph off Korea, apparently mistaking it for a Yak-9.^[21]
• July 29 – A BEA Vickers Viscount makes the first turboprop-powered passenger flight on the route London(Northolt)-Paris(Le Bourget).
• July 31 – U.S. Navy aircraft have flown 716 combat and 431 patrol sorties over and around Korea since July 1, most of them by aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45). U.S. Navy aviators have claimed 26 enemy aircraft destroyed and 13 probably destroyed during the period, and have destroyed numerous tanks, locomotives, power stations, and bridges. In exchange, the U.S. Navy has lost six aircraft and one aviator.^[27]

August

• United States Navy helicopters enter combat for the first time. Operating from the heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75), they principally are assigned to spotting for naval gunfire.^[28]
• Early August – From the Yellow Sea, aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) and USS Valley Forge (CV-45) strike targets south of the 38th parallel in Korea.^[29]
• The U.S. Navy's Convair XP5Y-1, prototype of the R3Y Tradewind, sets a world endurance record for a turboprop-powered aircraft, remaining aloft for 8 hours 6 minutes. It covers 3,450 miles (5,521 km) during the flight.^[10]
• August 3 – United States Marine Corps air operations over Korea commence, with VMF-214 flying strike missions from USS Sicily (CVE-118). They are the first strikes launched from an escort aircraft carrier during the Korean War.^[30]
• August 12 – F-51 Mustang aircraft are forced to abandon the airfield at Pohang, Korea, due to North Korean People's Army attacks against it. They return to Japan.^[31]
• August 22 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee estimates that the Soviet Union has 20 atomic bombs and will have 165 by 1953.^[32]
• August 27 – F-51 Mustangs of the South African Air Force's No. 2 Squadron are sent to Korea as part of South Africa's contribution to United Nations forces in the Korean War.
• August 31 – Late in the evening, North Korean troops launch a heavy assault on the Pusan Perimeter. Aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Philippine Sea and USS Valley Forge (CV-45) provide support to defending forces.^[33]

September

• The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff report that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) requires an additional 8,636 aircraft for tactical and defensive operations if NATO is engage in a successful defense forward of the Rhine River against an Soviet offensive.^[34]
• September 1 – The number three engine of the Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-749A Constellation Star of Maryland, operating as Flight 903, catches fire, then falls off the wing, while the aircraft is flying near Cairo, Egypt. The crew attempts an emergency landing near Ityai el Barud, Egypt, but the aircraft crashes, killing all 55 people on board. Among the dead are architect Maciej Nowicki and an Egyptian film star.
• September 4
  • Captain Robert Wayne becomes the first pilot to be rescued from behind enemy lines by a helicopter.
  • During U.S. Navy carrier air strikes on targets north of Inchon, Korea, four F4U Corsair fighter-bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) intercept a twin-engine bomber approaching Task Force 77 off Korea and Lieutenant, junior grade, Richard Downs shoots it down over the Yellow Sea after it opens fire on them. A Soviet aviator's body is recovered from the water, demonstrating direct Soviet air participation in the Korean War for the first time.^[33][35]
• September 5 – To divert enemy attention from the upcoming Inchon landing, U.S. Air Force bombers begin strikes on bridges and roads around Kunsan, Korea. To contribute to the deception over the next few days, carrier aircraft from USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116) and HMS Triumph (R16) strike roads and bridges to the north of Kunsan, and aircraft from USS Valley Forge (CV-45) and USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) attack targets between Seoul and Pyongyang.^[36]
• September 8 – The first air launch of a Douglas Skyrocket research aircraft takes place. Bill Bridgeman pilots the aircraft, which is launched from a U.S. Navy Boeing P2B-1S Superfortress.^[37]
• September 10, 13, and 14 – United Nations carrier aircraft soften up targets in the Inchon area in preparation for the landing there.^[38]
• September 15 – Task Force 77, centered on five U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and one of the Royal Navy, supports the U.S. Marine Corps assault on Green Beach, paving the way for the Inchon landing.
• September 17 – The only North Korean Air Force response to the Inchon landing takes place, when two Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters attack the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Rochester (CA-124) and Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Jamaica off Inchon. They hit Rochester's aircraft crane with a 50-kg (102-pound) bomb that fails to explode and score seven near-misses, killing one man aboard Jamaica. Jamaica shoots one of them down.^[39]
• September 21 – A Bell 47 becomes the first helicopter to fly over the Alps.^[40]
• September 22 – U.S. Air Force Colonel David Schilling makes the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a jet fighter, flying a Republic EF-84E Thunderjet from the United Kingdom to the United States in 10 hours 2 minutes with three aerial refuelings. The flight demonstrates that large numbers of fighters could be moved quickly across the Atlantic.

October

• Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s from the 29th Fighter Aviation Regiment are supplied to support the North Korean Air Force. They are flown by Soviet and Chinese pilots.
• October 1 – The Royal Danish Air Force is re-established.
• October 3 – A U.S. Navy HO3S-1 helicopter from the light cruiser USS Worcester (CL-144) is assigned to assist minesweepers clearing the harbor at Wonsan, Korea. It is the first time helicopters assist in naval minesweeping.^[41]
• October 14 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) joins the aircraft carriers USS Leyte (CV-32), USS Valley Forge (CV-45), and USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) in Task Force 77 off Korea. It is the first time since 1945 that four Essex-class aircraft carriers have operated together.^[42]
• October 20 – U.S. paratroops cut off supplies from Pyongyang, Korea.
• October 31 – The British European Airways Vickers VC.1 Viking Lord St. Vincent (G-AHPN) crashes while landing in thick fog at London Airport, killing 28 of the 30 people on board.

November

• November 1 – In the Korean War, United States Air Force F-51 Mustang fighters report coming under fire by Soviet-built MiG-15 jet fighters. It is the first encounter between United Nations forces and the MiG-15.^[18]
• November 3 – The Lockheed L-749A Constellation Malabar Princess, operating as Air India Flight 245, crashes on Mont Blanc in France, killing all 48 people on board. In 1966, Air India Flight 101 will crash in almost exactly the same spot.
• November 7 – BOAC retires its last flying boat airliner from service.
• November 8 – In the Korean War, the first jet-vs.-jet combat in history takes place, between United States Air Force F-80C Shooting Stars escorting B-29 Superfortress bombers and Soviet-made MiG-15s. U.S. Air Force First Lieutenant Russell Brown shoots down a MiG-15, the first victory by a jet over another jet.^[43]
• November 9 – Flying an F9F Panther, United States Navy Lieutenant Commander William T. Armen shoots down a MiG-15. It is the first victory by a U.S. Navy jet over another jet.^[43]
• November 9–20 – U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders and F4U Corsairs from the aircraft carriers USS Valley Forge (CV-45) and USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) attempt to destroy railroad and highway bridges across the Yalu River. They destroy the highway bridge at Sinuiju and two bridges at Hysanjin and damage other bridges, although the railroad bridge at Sinuiju remains standing. Escorting F9F Panthers shoot down three MiG-15s. Nearly 600 sorties are flown, and no U.S. aircraft are lost.^[44]
• November 13 – A Curtiss Reid Flying Services C-54B-1-DC Skymaster flying 50 miles (80 km) off course crashes on Tête de l'Obiou mountain south of Grenoble, France, killing all 52 people on board.
• November 25 – The People's Republic of China launches a major offensive across the Yalu River against United Nations forces in Korea. Under terrible winter weather conditions, United Nations aircraft are heavily committed to supporting ground forces, which are driven out of northern Korea by the end of the year.^[45]
• November 30 – After a rushed replenishment in Japan, the U.S. Navy's Task Force 77 returns to action off Korea, its aircraft carriers launching 39 sorties during the day in support of United Nations forces retreating in the face of the Chinese offensive in northern Korea.^[46]

December

• President of the United States Harry S. Truman authorizes the storage of unassembled atomic bomb components aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in East Asia.^[47]
• December 1 – The United States Air Force removes the Tactical Air Command from the control of the Continental Air Command. The Tactical Air Command returns to the status of a major command for the first time since December 1948.^[17]
• December 2–25 – Four hundred aircraft from seven United Nations aircraft carriers support U.N. ground forces with air strikes while U.S. Air Force aircraft drop supplies to them as they break out of their encirclement in northern Korea and are evacuated successfully by sea from Hungnam in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.^[45]
• December 3 – The carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy Task Force 77 are tasked solely with support to United Nations ground forces in northern Korea retreating in the face of the Chinese offensive toward an evacuation at Hungnam, flying reconnaissance missions, attacking Chinese positions, and escorting military transport aircraft flying supplies into Hagaru-ri. Air controllers handle 359 U.N. aircraft on this day, most of them from Task Force 77.^[48]
• December 4
  • The Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) F4U Corsair of the first African American naval aviator, U.S. Navy Ensign Jesse L. Brown, operating off of the aircraft carrier USS Leyte (CV-32), suddenly loses power while supporting the 1st Marine Division's breakout from the Chosin Reservoir, forcing Brown to make a hard crash-landing, in which he is injured. His wingman, Lieutenant, junior grade, Thomas J. Hudner, crash-lands his own Corsair near Brown's and attempts to help Brown, as does the pilot of a United States Marine Corps Sikorsky HO3S-1 helicopter that arrives later, but Brown dies before they can extricate him from the wreckage. For his actions, Hudner becomes the first member of the U.S. Navy to receive the Medal of Honor during the Korean War.^[49]
  • A Pan American World Airways Boeing 307 Strato-Clipper sets a new record time for a commercial flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Los Angeles California, making the trip in 7 hours 20 minutes.^[2]
• December 5 – Task Force 77 aircraft carriers launch a record 248 sorties in support of U.N. forces retreating toward Hungnam.^[48]
• December 6 – Douglas Dakotas of 13 Flight Royal Hellenic Air Force evacuate American casualties from the Chosin Reservoir.
• December 7 – Despite bad winter weather, aircraft of the Task Force 77 aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CV-37), USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), USS Leyte (CV-32), USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116), and USS Sicily (CVE-118) fly 216 sorties in support of United Nations forces retreating toward Hungnam.^[48]
• December 9 – Royal Australian Air Force Gloster Meteors replace the P-51s of 77 Squadron in Korea.
• December 17 – The United States Air Force F-86 Sabre fighter begins operations in the Korean War; four F-86s engage four MiG-15s and shoot down one of them.^[50]
• December 30 – A Royal Australian Air Force CAC Wirraway crashes into a crowded beach at Maroochydore in Queensland, Australia, killing three children and injuring 14 other people on the beach. The two-man crew survives the crash.
• Late December – The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff note that if the Korean War expands into an open war with the People's Republic of China, the United States will launch an air offensive against the Chinese mainland but would not engage in a major war in East Asia that would jeopardize the defense of Europe against the Soviet Union.^[51]

First flights

January

• January 13 – Mikoyan-Gurevich I-330, prototype of the MiG-17
• January 19 – Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck^[52] RCAF 18101
• January 24 – Nord 1601^[53]
• January 25 – North American YF-93 by George Welch^[54]

March

• March 26 – XA2D Skyshark

April

• April 4 – Jodel D11 F-BBBF
• April 18 – Convair XP5Y-1^[9] BuNo 121455, the first turboprop-powered flying boat to fly, prototype of the R3Y Tradewind^[55]
• April 30 – SNCASE Grognard

May

• May 5 – Scottish Aviation Prestwick Pioneer prototype G-AKBF
• May 10 – de Havilland Heron G-ALZL

June

• June 3 – Republic YF-96A, prototype of the F-84F Thunderstreak^[56]
• June 16 – FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II
• June 19 – Hawker P.1081 VX279^[57]
• June 20 – Blackburn and General GAL.60 Universal Freighter^[57]

July

• July 16 – Boisavia Chablis^[57]

August

• August 11 – Fairchild XC-120 Packplane^[57]

September

• September 1 – Avro Ashton^[57]

October

• October 9 – Dassault MD.80 ABC^[57]
• October 10 – Boulton Paul P.111 VT935
• October 13 – Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation prototype^[57]
• October 21 – Martin 4-0-4^[57]

December

• December 1 – Texas A&M College Ag-1^[57]

Entered service

July

• July 29 – Vickers Viscount with BEA

August

• August 6 – Handley Page Hermes with BOAC

October

• Grumman AF Guardian with U.S. Navy Antisubmarine Squadron 25^[58]

References

• Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1951.