1952 in aviation

Years in aviation:	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Years:	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952:

Events

• The Royal Navy conducts the world‍ '​s first trials of an angled flight deck, aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph. It had been invented by Royal Navy Captain (later Rear Admiral) Dennis R. F. Campbell.^[1]
• The Royal Navy conducts the world‍ '​s first trials of a mirror landing aid, aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. It had been invented by Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) H. C. Nicholas "Nick" Goodhart.^[1]

January

• United Nations forces in Korea begin Operation Moonlight Sonata, which uses the illumination effect of the moon on snow to allow night-flying aircraft to find enemy trains operating at night and isolate them by bombing the tracks in front of and behind them, with carrier-based naval aircraft destroying the isolated trains the following morning. Several trains are destroyed in this way by the spring of 1952.^[2]
• The Royal Navy‍ '​s Fleet Air Arm makes use of a helicopter in a major rescue effort for the first time when a Westland Dragonfly attempts to rescue two men from the sinking cargo ship SS Flying Enterprise. Although the attempt is unsuccessful, the Dragonfly proves capable of flying in conditions previously thought to preclude helicopter operations.^[3]
• The United States Navy begins Operation Package, an effort to use carrier air power to interdict enemy road and rail traffic in northeastern Korea, in conjunction with Operation Derail, a shore bombardment campaign against coastal roads and railroads by surface warships. The two operations will end in February and be only partially successful.^[4]
• The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) has 200 atomic bombs allocated for his use in the defense of Europe in the event of a Soviet offensive against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).^[5]
• January 1 – Mail subsidies to National Airlines end, and the United States Post Office Department places the airline on a mail service rate that makes it self-sustaining throughout its system.^[6]
• January 5 – Pan American World Airways commences transatlantic freight services.
• January 10 – An Aer Lingus Douglas C-47B-35-DK Dakota 3 (registration EI-AFL) on a Northolt Aerodrome–Dublin flight crashes in Wales due to vertical draft in the mountains of Snowdonia, killing all 23 people on board. It is the airline's first fatal crash in its fifteen-year history.^[7][8][9]
• January 19 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 324 – a Douglas C-54E-5-DO Skymaster on a charter flight from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Territory of Alaska, to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington – diverts to Sandspit Airport in Sandspit, British Columbia, after feathering its No. 1 propeller due to a broken oil cooler. The C-54 touches down at Sandspit but then attempts a go-around. It stalls during the attempted climb-out and ditches in water beyond the end of the runway. All or nearly all of the 43 people aboard the plane evacuate without serious injury, but 36 of them die of drowning or exposure in the near-freezing air and water temperatures they encounter outside the plane.^[10]
• January 22
  • The de Havilland Comet 1 becomes the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness.
  • American Airlines Flight 6780, a Convair CV-240, crashes into a house in Elizabeth, New Jersey, while on final approach to Newark Airport, killing all 23 people on the plane and seven people on the ground. It is the first fatal accident involving a Convair CV-240. Among the dead are Robert P. Patterson, a jurist and former Undersecretary of War under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former Secretary of War under President Harry S Truman; former war correspondent John F. Chester; and U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration officials George T. Williams and John D. Rice, both engaged in the development of airport radar systems and navigational aids at the time.^[11]

February

• 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, by the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps which had begun in June 1951, ends without success. The similar Operation Saturate begins, but also ultimately will be unsuccessful.^[12]
• February 4 – A Sabena Douglas C-47A-25-DK Skytrain suffers a propeller failure in flight over the Belgian Congo. Debris from the propeller failure cuts some of the aircraft's control cables, causing the crew to lose control. The plane crashes near Kikwit, killing all 16 people on board.^[13]
• February 10 – Major George A. Davis Jr. is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, after attacking a group of 12 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s that were about to bounce other U.S. aircraft. He shot down two before being shot down himself.
• February 26 – Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that the United Kingdom has developed its own atomic bomb.^[14]

March

• March 22 – Temporarily blinded when enemy antiaircraft fire hits his USS Valley Forge (CV-45)-based AD Skyraider during a bombing raid against rail and truck lines in North Korea, U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth Schechter rejects the suggestion of fellow Valley Forge Skyraider pilot and best friend Lieutenant, junior grade, Howard Thayer that he bail out over the ocean, where Navy forces can rescue him from the water. Instead, Thayer, flying only feet away from Schechter‍ '​s aircraft, coaches Schechter to a safe, blind landing at a United States Army dirt airstrip in Korea. Schechter loses his right eye but recovers the sight in his left eye; he receives the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1995 for his 1952 flight. Thayer dies in a crash in 1961, but receives a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross in 2009 for assisting Schechter.^[15][16][17]

April

• The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff decide that if the Korean War broadens to include war with the Soviet Union in East Asia, the United States will conduct an atomic and conventional air offensive in the region but will fall back into a defensive posture there if the war spreads to Europe.^[18]
• April 11 – The Pan American World Airways Douglas DC-4 Clipper Endeavor, operating as Flight 526A, suffers the failure of two engines and ditches in rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean 11.3 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, nine minutes after takeoff from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport. The plane breaks up and sinks in three minutes, with many panicking passengers refusing to leave the sinking aircraft; 52 of the 69 people on board die, and the United States Coast Guard rescues the 17 survivors. After this accident the implementation of pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights is recommended.
• April 25 – John Jay Hopkins founds General Dynamics Corporation.^[19]
• April 25 - Restriction on the production of arms and aircraft in Japan is lifted.
• April 28 – The Pan American World Airways Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10–26 Clipper Good Hope, operating as Flight 202, crashes in the Amazon Basin 410 km (220 nautical miles) southwest of Carolina, Brazil, killing all 50 people on board.

May

• May 1 – The International Air Transport Association agrees on new "Tourist Class" fares, which are first offered by Pan American World Airways on its "Rainbow Service" between New York City and London
• May 2 – BOAC introduces the de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 on its multi-stop London, England-Johannesburg, South Africa route, the first regular service flown by a jet airliner.^[20] G-ALYP makes the first flight, carrying 36 passengers.^[21]
• May 12 – Squadron Leader P. G. Fisher makes the first non-stop, unrefuelled flight from England to Australia in an English Electric Canberra bomber in a record 23 hours 5 minutes.
• May 15 – The Royal Air Force takes delivery of its last Avro Anson. The Anson had been in production for the RAF since 1934.^[22]
• May 29 – Aerial refueling is used on a combat mission for the first time, with twelve F-84 Thunderjets of the 159th Fighter Bomber Squadron being refueled by a KB-29 Superfortress on their way back from an attack on Sariwon, Korea.

June

• The Israeli Air Force places its first order for jet aircraft, Dassault Ouragans. The first 25 will not be delivered until October 1954.^[23]
• June 13–16 – Soviet Air Force MiG-15s shoot down a Swedish Air Force C-47 Dakota on an intelligence gathering mission over the Baltic Sea, and the PBY Catalina that is sent to search for survivors.
• June 23–27 – United Nations aircraft conduct concentrated attacks on 13 North Korean electric power generation facilities which previously had been off-limits to air attack in the most intense use of airpower of the Korean War. Aircraft of the United States Air Force, United States Navy, Marine Corps, and South African Air Force all participate as do all four aircraft carriers – USS Boxer (CV-21), USS Princeton (CV-37), USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), and USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) – of Task Force 77, the first time since World War II that four Essex-class aircraft carriers have operated together, with U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft flying 1,200 sorties on June 23–24. In one strike on the Sui-ho Dam, U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders drop 85 short tons (77 metric tons) of bombs in two minutes. The attacks result in extensive and sustained blackouts in North Korea, which is powerless for two weeks, and in bordering areas in Manchuria in the People's Republic of China, some of which last for months.^[24][25]
• June 28 – American Airlines Flight 910, a Douglas DC-6, collides with a privately owned Temco Swift while on final approach to Love Field in Dallas, Texas. The DC-6 lands with no injuries to any of the 60 people on board, but the Swift crashes, killing both occupants.

July

• July 1 – The Portuguese Air Force is formed by the amalgamation of the nation's various previous air arms.
• July 8 – New York Airways begins inter-airport helicopter services to link Idlewild, La Guardia, and Newark airports.
• July 11 – Aircraft from the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CV-37) and USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ocean (R68), the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Air Force, and the Royal Australian Air Force conduct a massive attack on industrial targets in and around Pyongyang, Korea.^[24]
• July 15–31 – A pair of U.S. Air Force Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaws make the first transatlantic crossing by helicopter
• July 29 – A U.S. Air Force RB-45 Tornado makes the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by jet.

August

• A massive strike by United Nations aircraft against industrial targets in and around Pyongyang, Korea, completes the destruction begun by the similar strike on July 11, 1952.^[24]
• August 4 – Off Korea, the explosion of an aircraft fuel tank causes a fire on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) which kills nine and injures 30 men and destroys or damages 18 aircraft.^[26]
• August 9 – Four Royal Navy piston-engined Hawker Sea Furies encounter eight MiG-15s near Pyongyang, Korea, and Lieutenant Peter Carmichael of No. 802 Squadron FAA aboard HMS Ocean shoots one down. It is the Fleet Air Arm's first kill of the Korean War and first MiG-15 kill.^[27][28]
• August 12 – A bomb explodes aboard a Transportes Aéreos Nacional Douglas C-47A while it is in flight near Palmeira de Goiás, Brazil. The airliner crashes, killing all 24 people on board.
• August 16 – Braniff Airways acquires Mid-Continent Airlines.^[29]
• August 28 – The first launch in combat of a guided missile by an aircraft carrier occurs when Guided Missile Unit 90 on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) launches a pilotless F6F-5K Hellcat loaded with explosives as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam, Korea. The unit fires five more Hellcat drones at the bridge between August 28 and September 2, scoring two hits and one near-miss.^[28]
• August 30 – At the International Aviation Exposition in Detroit, Michigan, one of a pair of Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighters flying together disintegrates in flight, killing its pilot and one spectator.^[30]

September

• Several MiG-15s approach to within 7 nautical miles (13 km) of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bradford (DD-545) before she drives them off with gunfire.^[31]
• September 1 – In the largest carrier air strike of the Korean War, 144 U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS  Essex (CV-9), USS Princeton (CV-37), and USS Boxer (CV-21) attack the oil refinery at Aoji, Korea. Attacks on industrial targets at Munsan and electrical plants at Chongjin are also conducted. All U.S. aircraft return safely.^[32]
• September 6 – The de Havilland DH.110 prototype WG236 disintegrates at the Farnborough Airshow in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, and crashes, killing 29 spectators and both men aboard the plane. About another 60 spectators are injured. The accident is captured on film.
• September 10 – During a dogfight between two piston-engined United States Marine Corps F4U Corsair fighter-bombers from the escort aircraft carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118) and several MiG-15 jet fighters, Corsair pilot Captain Jesse G. Folmar shoots down a MiG-15 before being shot down himself; he survives and is rescued. It is the only Corsair victory over a MiG-15 during the Korean War.^[33]
• September 15 – Noticing that the damaged F-86 Sabre fighter of his wingman, U.S. Air Force First Lieutenant Joseph Logan, was rapidly leaking fuel over enemy-held territory, Captain James R. Risner instructs Logan to shut down his engine. Amid heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, Risner in an unprecedented maneuver twice places the nose of his own F-86 into the tailpipe of Logan‍ '​s at 200 mph (322 km/hr) to push Logan‍ '​s powerless plane out of enemy territory. He succeeds, although Logan lands in the ocean after parachuting from the plane and drowns. Risner receives the Silver Star for his effort to save Logan.^[34][35][36]
• September 17 – Flying a Bell 47, Bell Aircraft pilot Elton J. Smith flies nonstop from Hurst, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, setting a nonstop distance record for helicopters of 1,217 miles (1,959 km).^[37]

October

• In an attempt to rescue a downed aviator, a U.S. Navy helicopter from the heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) makes a 105-mile (169-km) flight, often under heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, during which the enemy attempts to jam its communications with Helena and builds fires to lure it closer to antiaicraft guns. The rescue attempt, extremely lengthy for its time, is unsuccessful.^[38]
• The U.S. Navy‍ '​s Task Force 77 begins "Cherokee Strikes," in which aircraft from the task force‍ '​s aircraft carriers attack enemy supply, artillery, and troop concentrations in Korea. Through January 1953, Cherokee Strikes will constitute a third of the United States Seventh Fleet‍ '​s air effort in the Korean War.^[25]
• October 1 – The United States Navy reclassifies all of its "aircraft carriers" (CV) and "large aircraft carriers" (CVB) as "attack aircraft carriers" (CVA).^[32]
• October 8 – Twelve F2H Banshee fighters of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) escort U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers in a raid on the rail and supply center at Kowon, Korea. Minutes later, 89 aircraft from USS Essex (CVA-9), USS Princeton (CVA-37), and Kearsarge follow up with a bomb and rocket attack on Kowon.^[32]
• Mid-October – Task Force 77 carrier aircraft attack a 25-mile-long stretch of shoreline along the east coast of North Korea around the town of Kojo, on one day flying 667 sorties and losing five planes, as preparation for an amphibious landing. The carrier commanders later are infuriated to discover that no landing was planned, the attack being merely a feint to put pressure on North Korean negotiators to make peace.^[39]
• October 26 – A BOAC de Havilland Comet airliner is badly damaged in an accident during take-off from Rome-Ciampino airport in Italy.

November

• In the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Florida, Piasecki HRP-1 Rescuer helicopters of U.S. Navy Experimental Squadron 3 (VX-3) begin tests which demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of using helicopters in aerial minesweeping.^[40]
• November 2^[41] or 3^[42] – The first combat between jets at night occurs, when a United States Marine Corps F3D Skyknight night fighter piloted by Major William T. Stratton and crewed by radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. Hoglind shoots down an enemy jet aircraft over Korea they identify as a Yak-15.^[42][43]
• November 18 – Off northeastern Korea, three U.S. Navy F9F-5 Panther fighters from Fighter Squadron 781 (VF-781) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) engage seven MiG-15s almost certainly flown by Soviet pilots, shooting down two MiG-15s without loss to themselves.^[44]
• November 22 – During a flight from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Territory of Alaska, a U.S. Air Force C-124A Globemaster II crashes into Mount Gannett in Alaska, killing all 52 people on board. The wreckage is identified on November 28, but then is buried in ice and snow and is not rediscovered until June 2012.^[45][46]

December

• December 6 – A Cubana de Aviación Douglas DC-4 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda, killing 37 of the 41 people on board and leaving all four survivors injured. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Bermuda.
• December 18 – During a dive, an Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck becomes the world‍ '​s first straight-wing combat aircraft to exceed the speed of sound.^[47]
• December 20 – A United States Air Force C-124 Globemaster II, 50–100, c/n 43238, crashes on take-off from Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, Washington, in the United States, killing 87 servicemen, the highest confirmed death toll of any accident in aviation history at the time.
• December 26 – Wisconsin Central Airlines changes its name to North Central Airlines, and moves its headquarters from Clintonville, Wisconsin, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

First flights

January

• January 3 – Bristol Type 173 G-ALBN
• January 21 – Saab 210

February

• Republic RF-84F Thunderflash^[48]

April

• Piasecki H-21
• April 15 – Boeing YB-52 49–231
• April 27 – Tupolev "88" prototype of Tupolev Tu-16

May

• May 19 – Grumman XF10F Jaguar^[49]

June

• June 4 - LIBIS KB-6^[50]
• June 5 - Max Plan PF.204 Busard^[50]
• June 19 – Yak-120 prototype of Yakovlev Yak-25
• June 20 - AISA I-115^[50]
• June 27 – Bell X-2 (unpowered)
• June 30 - American Helicopter XH-26 Jet Jeep^[50]

July

• July 3 – Yak-24 twin engine tandem helicopter
• July 11 - Farman F.500^[50]
• July 12 – Beecraft Honey Bee^[51]
• July 23 – Fouga Magister^[50]
• July 31 – SNCASE SE.3120 Alouette^[52]

August

• August 6 – Boulton Paul P.120 VT951
• August 16 – Bristol Britannia ^[50]G-ALBO
• August 22 – Saunders-Roe Princess^[50] G-ALUN
• August 30 – Avro Vulcan^[50]VX770

September

• Early September – Avro Canuck CF-100 Canuck Mark 3^[53]
• September 10 – BOMARC surface-to-air missile
• September 20 – Douglas X-3 Stiletto
• September 28 – Dassault Mystère IV^[50]
• September 30 – GAM-63 RASCAL surface-to-air missile

October

• October 7 - Macchi M.B.323^[50]
• October 11 – Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mark 4 prototype^[53]
• October 16 – Sud Aviation Vautour^[50]
• October 23 - Hughes XH-17^[50]
• October 25 - Piaggio P.150^[50]
• October 28 – Douglas XA3D-1^[50]

November

• November 3 – Saab Lansen^[50]
• November 11 - Matra-Cantinieau MC-101^[50]
• November 17 - Max Holste 1521 Broussard^[50]
• November 20 – Percival Pembroke^[50]

December

• December 2 - Short SB.5^[50]
• December 4 – Grumman XS2F-1 Tracker^[50]
• December 4 - Nardi FN.333^[50]
• December 24 – Handley Page Victor ^[50]WB771

Entered service

January

• January 13 – Lockheed Neptune with Royal Air Force
• January 22 – de Havilland DH.108 Comet with BOAC

March

• March 13 – Airspeed Ambassador with BEA
• March 28 – Convair CV-340 with United Air Lines^[54] rch

June

• June 17 – airship ZPN-1 with the US Navy

August

• de Havilland Venom with the RAF

November

• Grumman F9F Cougar with U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32)^[55]

Retirements

• Bristol Brabazon by the Bristol Aeroplane Company^[56]

References

• Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd., 1953.

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