1951 in aviation

Years in aviation:	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Years:	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1951:

Events

• Three aerial refueling points are installed on a modified United States Air Force B-29 Superfortress, making it the world‍ '​s first triple-point aerial tanker. During trials, it keeps six Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor F 8 fighters continuously aloft simultaneously for four hours at a time.^[1]
• President Harry S Truman presents the Collier Trophy to the United States Coast Guard for its development of the helicopter.^[2]
• With no aircraft left on order and no prospects for new orders, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation closes down its Aeroplane Division and sells all of its aircraft designs, projects, prototypes, and factories to North American Aviation.^[3]
• Early 1951 – The Royal Navy embarks a helicopter unit on an aircraft carrier for the first time, aboard HMS Indomitable.^[4]

January

• U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 provide support to United Nations troops fighting on the front line in Korea, including long-range interdiction, emergency close air support, and air cover for landings and evacuations.^[5]
• January 1 – The United States Air Force reestablishes the Air Defense Command. It also returns the Air Defense Command to the status of a major command, a status it has not held since December 1948.^[6]
• January 21 – The U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet makes its first kill, when F-84 pilot Lieutenant Colonel William E. Bertram shoots down a MiG-15 during the Korean War.^[7]
• January 31
  • The month ends as the worst for the United Nations forces in Korea in terms of air losses, with 44 U.N. aircraft lost to enemy ground fire alone. More than 600 American aircraft have been lost in air-to-air combat or due to enemy ground fire since the Korean War began in June 1950.^[8]
  • On a flight in the privately owned P-51 Mustang Excalibur III to investigate the jet stream, U.S. Navy Captain Charles F. Blair, Jr., sets a record for a piston-engine aircraft by flying nonstop 3,478 miles (5,597 km) from New York City to London, England, in 7 hours 48 minutes at an average speed of 446 mph (718 km/hr).

February

• The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that the Soviet Air Force has 20,000 aircraft to devote to the support of Soviet Army ground forces in the event of a war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and estimates that the Soviet Union will have 120 atomic bombs in 1952.^[9]
• February 21 – An English Electric Canberra becomes the first jet to make an unrefuelled crossing of the Atlantic, taking 4 hours 37 minutes
• February 26 – U.S. Navy carrier aircraft of Task Force 77 begin 38 consecutive days of attacks on enemy railroads and highways along the east coast of Korea.^[10]

March

• The United States Navy tank landing ship USS LST-799, fitted with a miniature flight deck, begins operations off Wonsan, Korea, with a detachment of two HO3S helicopters from Utility Helicopter Squadron 1 (UH-1). She becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to operate in the role of a helicopter carrier.^[11]
• The U.S. Air Force‍ '​s Far East Air Forces establishes an air defense information zone for South Korea, overlapping with North Korean airpsace but primarily intended to protect South Korea from incursions by aircraft from the People's Republic of China.^[12][13]
• March 2 – U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders of Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) from the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37) begin a lengthy series of raids against a railroad bridge across a deep ravine south of Kilchu, Korea, discovered earlier that day by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Harold Carlson. They damage the southern approach to the bridge in their first strike.^[14][15]
• March 3 – The second strike by VA-195 against the Kilchu railroad bridge destroys one span, damages another span, and shifts two more spans out of line. Rear Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie, commanding Task Force 77, dubs the target "Carlson's Canyon."^[16]
• March 6 – The Martin aircraft company gains production rights to the English Electric Canberra as the B-57.
• March 7 – VA-195 makes its third strike against the railroad bridge in "Carlson's Canyon," dropping the northernmost of the two spans it had shifted in its March 3 attack.^[16]
• March 15
  • VA-195 makes its fourth strike against the railroad bridge in "Carlson's Canyon," destroying some wooden replacement spans, dropping a span at the southern end, and damaging the northern approach. Later in the month, U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortresses seed the valley floor with long-time-delay bombs.^[17]
  • A Qantas flying boat makes a survey flight from Sydney, Australia, to Valparaíso, Chile, via Easter Island, a first flight of this type across the South Pacific.
• March 21 – Flying a U.S. Navy F9F Panther of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191) from the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37), Ensign Floryan "Frank" Sobieski is blinded by enemy ground fire over Korea. Guided and encouraged by his wingman, Lieutenant, junior grade, Pat Murphy, and assisted by Princeton‍ '​s landing signal officer, Sobieski lands safely aboard Princeton without being able to see. He later recovers full vision.^[18]
• March 27 – An Air Transport Charter Douglas Dakota 3 crashes shortly after takeoff from Ringway Airport in Manchester, England, during a snowstorm, killing four of the six people on board.

April

• United Nations intelligence estimates credit the People's Republic of China with 1,250 planes based in Manchuria, about 800 of them Soviet-built jets. Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General Hoyt Vandenberg expresses concern that the U.N. is close to losing air superiority over North Korea.^[8]
• The United States Navy has activated 13 aircraft carriers from the National Defense Reserve Fleet to bolster its capabilities during the Korean War.^[19]
• April 1 – U.S. Navy carrier-based jets are used as fighter-bombers for the first time as F9F Panthers of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191) aboard USS Princeton (CV-37) attack a railroad bridge near Songjin, Korea, with 100- and 250-pound (45- and 113-kg) bombs.^[18]
• April 2 – The fifth and sixth strikes by U.S. Navy Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) against the almost-rebuilt railroad bridge in "Carlson's Canyon" at Kilchu, Korea, leave only the concrete bridge piers standing. VA-195‍ '​s campaign has defeated enemy attempts to repair the bridge. However, the North Koreans have built a bypass road with eight new bridges that are harder to hit and easier to repair, and keep their supplies moving, and VA-195 gives up on further strikes. VA-195‍ '​s attacks on the bridge will inspire the 1953 novella The Bridges at Toko-Ri by James Michener and the 1954 movie of the same name based on it.^[14][20]
• April 4 – U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 conclude 38 consecutive days of aerial interdiction in Korea, during which their aviators have claimed the destruction of 54 railroad and 37 highway bridges and to have ruptured railroad tracks in 200 other places. The railroad system along the east coast of North Korea has been reduced from carrying two-thirds to carrying one-third of North Korean and Chinese supplies since the attacks began on February 25.^[21]
• April 12 – 48 U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers attack the Sinuiju Railway Bridge on the Yalu River.
• April 21 – Four Yak-9 fighters attack two U.S. Marine Corps F4U Corsairs of Marine Fighter Squadron 312 (VMF-312) near Chinnampo, Korea. Marine Captain Philip C. DeLong shoots down two of them, while his wingman, Lieutenant H. Deigh, destroys one and damages the fourth.^[22]
• April 25 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 493, a Douglas DC-4, collides in mid-air with a U.S. Navy SNB-1 Kansan on an instrument training flight near Naval Air Station Key West in Key West, Florida. Both planes crash, killing all 39 people on board the DC-4 and the entire four-man crew of the SNB-1.
• April 30 – Six aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37) attack the Hwachon Dam, attempting to destroy its sluice gates to prevent North Korea from shutting them and allowing the Pukhan River below to dry up so that North Korean and Chinese troops could cross the riverbed. Dropping one 2,000-pound (907-kg) bomb each, they punch a hole in the dam but miss the sluice gates.^[23]

May

• May 1 – The only combat use of torpedoes during the Korean War occurs when U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders of Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) from USS Princeton (CV-37), escorted by F4U Corsairs of Fighter Squadrons 192 and 193 (VF-192 and VF-193) from the same carrier, attack the Hwachon Dam with torpedoes, wrecking the center sluice gate and flooding the Pukhan River. All aircraft return safely. It is the only occasion on which naval aircraft have used torpedoes to attack a dam.^[23][24] No aerial torpedo attack has been conducted by any country since.^[25]
• May 20 – U.S. Air Force Captain James Jabara becomes the first fighter ace to score his five victories in a jet (an F-86 Sabre) against jets (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s).
• May 25 – No. 101 Squadron takes delivery of its first English Electric Canberra B.Mk 2 bombers, becoming the first operational Canberra unit and the first jet bomber squadron of Royal Air Force Bomber Command.^[26]
• May 29 – Flying the privately owned P-51 Mustang Excalibur III, U.S. Navy Captain Charles F. Blair, Jr., makes the first solo flight over the North Pole, flying nonstop 3,260 miles (5,250 km) from Bardufoss, Norway, to Fairbanks, Alaska.

June

• The United States Air Force takes delivery of its first F-84G Thunderjet,^[27] the first fighter with a built-in aerial refueling probe, the first single-seat aircraft capable of carrying a nuclear bomb, and the last straight-wing aircraft to enter U.S. Air Force service.^[27]
• June 1 – British European Airways commences helicopter services between London and Birmingham
• June 5 – The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps begin Operation Strangle, a day-and-night air interdiction campaign against enemy roads, bridges, and tunnels across the width of the Korean Peninsula between 38 degrees 15 minutes North and 39 degrees 15 minutes North. It will continue until February 1952, but without the success hoped for it.^[28]
• June 20 – The first aircraft with variable-sweep wings, the Bell X-5, makes its first flight, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. No attempt is made to change the sweep of its wings during the flight.^[29]
• June 20 – The first aircraft completely designed and built in Canada, the first example of the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mark 2, flies for the first time.^[30]
• June 22 – The Pan American World Airways Lockheed L-049 Constellation Clipper Great Republic, operating as Flight 151, crashes into a hill near Sanoyie, Liberia, killing all 40 people on board.
• June 30 – The Douglas DC-6 Mainliner Overland Trail, operating as United Airlines Flight 610, crashes into Crystal Mountain, 50 miles (80 km) north-northwest of Denver, Colorado, killing all 50 people on board.

July

• The world‍ '​s first trials of a steam catapult take place aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Perseus.^[31]
• No. 25 Squadron Royal Air Force becomes the world's first jet night-fighter squadron when it takes delivery of the de Havilland Vampire NF10 night fighter.
• Covered by the British light cruiser Kenya and frigate HMS Cardigan Bay (K630), a U.S. Navy landing craft equipped with a special crane recovers the pieces of a MiG-15 that had crashed near Cho-do in northwestern Korea.^[32]
• July 3 – United States Navy Lieutenant junior grade John K. Koelsch and his crewman, Aviation Mate Third Class George M. Neal, are shot down in an HO3S helicopter by enemy ground fire while trying to rescue United States Marine Corps Captain James V. Wilkins, who had been shot down behind enemy lines and was badly burned. Koelsch and Neal rig a litter to carry Wilkins out of the area, but eventually are captured on July 12, and Koelsch dies on October 16, 1951, while in captivity. For his actions, Koelsch posthumously becomes the first helicopter pilot to receive the Medal of Honor.^[33]
• July 6 – Aerial refueling is used under combat conditions for the first time, with a KB-29 Superfortress tanker refueling four RF-80 Shooting Star reconnaissance aircraft over North Korea
• July 21 – Flying in heavy rain, icing conditions, and limited visibility, the Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-4 CF-CPC disappears during a United Nations flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Anchorage, Territory of Alaska, in the United States with 37 people on board. No wreckage or bodies are ever found.
• July 27 – Flying from Edwards Air Force Base, California, on its fifth flight, the first aircraft with variable-sweep wings, the Bell X-5, changes the sweep of its wings in flight for the first time.^[29]

August

• The Royal Navy‍ '​s first operational jet aircraft squadron, No. 800 Squadron, takes delivery of its first jets, Supermarine Attackers.^[34]
• The Canadian Blue Devils aerobatic team is disbanded.
• August 1 - Japan Air Lines is formed.
• August 7 - Bill Bridgeman sets a new airspeed record in the Douglas Skyrocket of Mach 1.88 (1,245 mph, 1,992 km/h).
• August 15 - Bill Bridgeman sets a new altitude record in the Douglas Skyrocket of 74,494 ft (22,706 m).^[35]
• August 15 - British European Airways commences the world's first turboprop freight services using a modified Douglas DC-3 fitted with two Rolls-Royce Dart engines.
• August 22 - The aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) joins Task Force 77 off the northeast coast of Korea. Embarked aboard Essex is Fighter Squadron 172 (VF-172), equipped with F2H-2 Banshee fighters. It is the first deployment of the Banshee to a war zone.^[36]
• August 24 – United Airlines Flight 615, a Douglas DC-6B, crashes into Tolman Peak near Decoto, California, killing all 50 people on board.
• August 25 - For the first time in the Korean War, U.S. Navy fighters escort U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers as F9F Panthers of Fighter Squadron 51 (VF-51) and F2H-2 Banshees of Fighter Squadron 172 (VF-172) from the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) cover B-29s on a raid on Rashin, Korea. They encounter no enemy aircraft.^[37]

September

• September 13 – The United States Marine Corps‍ '​s first transport helicopter squadron, Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161), conducts history‍ '​s first mass helicopter resupply mission in Operation Windmill I, lifting 18,484 pounds (8,384 kg) of equipment to a U.S. Marine Corps battalion on the front line in Korea and evacuating 74 casualties, all in one hour, using Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters.^[38]
• September 15 – A stunt plane piloted by U.S. Air Force First Lieutenant Norman Jones crashes into the crowd at the Fall Festival Day air show in Flagler, Colorado, when Jones attempts a loop or slow roll (sources differ) from an altitude of 200 feet (61 meters). Jones, six other adults, and 13 children die in the second-deadliest air show accident in U.S. history.^[39][40]
• September 16 – A damaged United States Navy F2H-2 Banshee attempting to land on USS Essex (CV-9) crashes into a group of aircraft parked on the carrier‍ '​s deck, killing seven sailors.
• September 13 – In Operation Windmill II, Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) lifts 12,180 pounds (5,525 kg) of equipment to a U.S. Marine Corps unit on the front line in Korea in 18 flights over the course of one hour, using Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters.^[38]
• September 21 – In Operation Summit, the U.S. Marine Corps makes the world‍ '​s first mass combat deployment by helicopter, when Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) uses 12 Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters to land 224^[38] or 228^[41] U.S. Marines and 17,772 pounds (8,061 kg) of equipment onto Hill 844 near Kansong, Korea.^[38][41]
• September 27 – In Operation Blackbird, the U.S. Marine Corps makes the world‍ '​s first nighttime combat troop lift by helicopter and the only large-scale night helicopter lift of the Korean War, when Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) uses Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters to land 223 U.S. Marines in a landing zone in Korea in 2 hours 20 minutes.^[42]
• September 28 – The U.S. Marine Corps loses a transport helicopter operationally for this first time in history when a Sikorsky HRS-1 of Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) is destroyed in a crash during a night training flight in Korea. All three men on board escape without injury.^[42]

October

• Based on information supplied by Korean guerrillas, eight AD Skyraiders from U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 54 (VF-54) attack a meeting place of Communist leaders in Kapsan, North Korea, with 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs and napalm. Intelligence evaluation indicates that 500 Communists are killed.^[43][44]
• A U.S. Navy helicopter from the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) flies 10 miles (16 km) inland to rescue a downed pilot from the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), a very lengthy rescue mission for the time.^[45]
• Communist aircraft inflict significant damage on the Royal Navy frigate HMS Black Swan while she is operating in the Han River in Korea.^[46]
• October 3 – Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 1 (HS-1), the U.S. Navy's first anti-submarine warfare helicopter squadron, is commissioned.
• October 11 – In Operation Bumble Bee, 12 Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters of Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) relieve an entire U.S. Marine Corps battalion on the front line in Korea, with each helicopter carrying six Marines at a time 15 miles (24 km) to the front and bringing six Marines at a time out to the rear area on the return trip. In under six hours, they transport a total of 958 Marines.^[42]
• October 15 – In Operation Wedge, Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters of the U.S. Marine Corps‍ '​s Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) supply a surrounded South Korean Army unit with 19,000 pounds (8,618 kg) of ammunition and evacuate 24 casualties.^[42]
• October 22 – In Operation Bushbeater, the U.S. Marine Corps makes the first use of vertical envelopment tactics when patrol teams of the 1st Marine Division use 40-foot (12-meter)-long knotted ropes to descend from Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters of Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) in Korea. Two of the helicopters lose lift over rough terrain and crash, but no one aboard is injured.^[47]
• October 23 – Ten U.S. Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortresses attack an airfield in North Korea; three are shot down, four make emergency landings in South Korea, and three badly damaged aircraft return to Okinawa. It is the last daylight combat mission flown by the B-29.
• October 25 – Japan Airlines launches commercial operations within Japan, using three Northwest Airlines Martin 2-0-2 aircraft flown by Northwest crews.^[48]

November

• A Royal Navy de Havilland Sea Hornet N.F. 21 night fighter of No. 809 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, flies nonstop from Gibraltar to Lee-on-Solent, England, at an average speed of 378 miles per hour (609 km/hr).^[49]
• Thanks to wartime mobilization of United States Naval Reserve aviators, 75 percent of U.S. Navy Korean War sorties are being flown by Naval Reserve personnel.^[50]

December

• A U.S. Air Force Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor becomes the first American combat aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight.^[51]
• December 1 – Flying Officer Bruce Gogerly of No. 77 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), flying a Gloster Meteor, shoots down a Soviet-piloted MiG-15, the first of four air-to-air kills for RAAF pilots during the Korean War.^[52]
• December 12 – Alaska Air becomes the first airline to fly over the North Pole.
• December 13 – U.S. Air Force Major George Davis of the 334th Fighter Squadron shoots down four MiG-15s in a single day.
• December 28 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that in an offensive against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, the Soviet Union would employ over 20,000 aircraft, which would be capable of attacking Western Europe, Scandinavia, Italy, the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East, Canada, and the United States.^[53]
• December 31 – The U.S. Air Force‍ '​ Strategic Air Command has an inventory of 1,165 aircraft, including 658 bombers.^[54]

First flights

January

• January 3 - Brochet MB.100^[55]
• January 23 – Douglas XF4D-1, prototype of the Douglas F4D Skyray^[56]

February

• February 6 - Valmet Vihuri^[55]
• February 14 – Republic F-84F Thunderstreak^[57]
• February 23 – Dassault Mystère^[55]

March

• March 7 - Fouga Gemeaux I^[55]
• March 12 - Fairey Delta 1^[55]
• March 15 - SNCASO SO.4000^[55]
• March 15 - Sud-Ouest SO.30R
• March 20 - McCulloch MC-4^[55]

April

• April 26 - Lockheed X-7

May

• May 18 - Vickers Valiant prototype WB210
• May 18 - Fokker S.14 Machtrainer^[55]

June

• June 20 - Bell X-5, first aircraft with swing wings
• June 21 - Handley Page HP.88

July

• July 16 - Iberavia I-11 EC-AFE
• July 20 - Hawker Hunter prototype WB188

August

• August 5 - HAL HT-2, India's first indigenously designed basic trainer.
• August 5 - Supermarine Swift WJ960
• August 7 - McDonnell F3H Demon^[58] 125444
• August 31 - Supermarine Type 508 VX133

September

• September 7 - Auster B.4 G-AMKL
• September 20 - Grumman XF9F-6, prototype of the Grumman F9F-6, later F-9, Cougar^[59]
• September 26 - de Havilland Sea Vixen WG326

October

• October 5 – Convair CV-340^[60]

November

• November 26 - Gloster Javelin prototype WD804

December

• December 10 – Fiat G.80, Italy's first true jet
• December 10 – Kaman K-225, first turbine-powered helicopter
• December 12 – de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter prototype CF-DYK-X
• December 27 – North American XFJ-2B, prototype of the FJ-2 Fury^[61]

Entered service

February

• Avro Shackleton with No. 120 Squadron, Royal Air Force^[62] Coastal Command, and No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit, Royal Air Force

^[62]

May

• May 24 – English Electric Canberra with the Royal Air Force‍ '​s No. 101 Squadron

June

• Northrop F-89 Scorpion with the United States Air Force‍ '​s 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• June 20 – Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mark 2^[30]

July

• de Havilland Vampire NF10 with the Royal Air Force‍ '​s No. 25 Squadron.

August

• Gloster Meteor NF11 with the Royal Air Force‍ '​s No. 29 Squadron
• August 22 – Supermarine Attacker with 800 Naval Air Squadron, the Fleet Air Arm's first jet

October

• October 17 – Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck with the Royal Canadian Air Force^[30]

December

• December 17 – Lockheed Super Constellation with Eastern Air Lines
• December 28 – Grumman F9F Cougar with the United States Navy^[63]

References

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

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