1965 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1965:
Events
January
- January 2 - Denis Healey, the United Kingdom 's Secretary of Defence, cancels the nation's fighter and military transport programmes and orders the purchase of the US-built F-4 Phantom and C-130 Hercules in their place.
- January 26 - President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco of Brazil decides that the Brazilian Air Force henceforth will control all Brazilian fixed-wing military aircraft, including those aboard the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais, and that the Brazilian Navy will control all seagoing rotary-wing aircraft. Key Brazilian naval personnel resign in protest.[2]
February
March
- March 1 – The combat debut of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief takes place, as U.S. Air Force F-105D aircraft based at Da Nang, South Vietnam, begin bombing missions over North Vietnam.[7]
- March 2 – Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive American air campaign against North Vietnam, begins.
- March 3 – The United States begins Operation Blue Tree, medium-altitude photographic reconnaissance and bomb damage assessment flights over North Vietnam.[6]
- March 6 – A Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King makes the first non-stop helicopter flight across North America. The distance travelled is 2,116 miles (3,405 kilometres), a new record for helicopters.
- March 31 – U.S. Marine Corps UH-34 transport helicopters escorted by U.S. Army UH-1B helicopter gunships come under heavy Viet Cong ground fire while attempting to drop off 435 South Vietnamese troops in a landing zone 25 miles (40 km) south of Da Nang, South Vietnam. Thirty-five helicopters become involved; three are shot down and 19 damaged.
April
- April 1 – Tasman Empire Airways becomes Air New Zealand.
- April 3 – United States Air Force and U.S. Navy aircraft begin covert Operation Steel Tiger armed reconnaissance flights over southeastern Laos.[6]
- April 3 – The first jet-to-jet combat of the Vietnam War occurs. Although all American aircraft involved return safely, the North Vietnamese Air Force claims to have shot down a U.S. Navy F-8 Crusader fighter and in future years celebrates April 3 as "North Vietnamese Air Force Day."
- April 3 – The U.S. Air Force mounts the first and largest U.S. air strike against the Thanh Hóa Railroad and Highway Bridge in North Vietnam, which the bridge survives. Despite 873 sorties against it over the next seven years, the bridge will not be destroyed until April 1972.[8]
- April 4 – During a U.S. Air Force strike on the Thanh Hóa Bridge, North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17 fighters attack a formation of U.S. Air Force F-105 Thunderchief strike aircraft, shooting down two F-105s. They are the first aircraft lost in air-to-air combat by either side during the Vietnam War.[9]
- April 5 – A U.S. Navy RF-8 Crusader reconnaissance aircraft photographs an SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile (SAM) site under construction in North Vietnam for the first time, but President Lyndon B. Johnson 's administration does not authorize strikes against North Vietnamese SAM sites until late July.[6][10] To meet the threat the SA-2s pose, during April the U.S. Air Force adds radar homing and warning equipment to its Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft [6] and deploys EB-66B Destroyer electronic countermeasures aircraft to Southeast Asia.[6]
- April 5 – The BAC One-Eleven receives its airworthiness certificate.[11]
- April 6 – United Air Lines places orders for new aircraft worth $US 750 million, the largest airliner purchase in history at the time.
- April 6 – The United Kingdom cancels the BAC TSR.2[12] in favour of procuring the General Dynamics F-111 for the Royal Air Force. In the end, the RAF does not buy the F-111, either.
- April 9 – U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom IIs of Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96) clash with Chinese MiG-17 fighters over the South China Sea south of Hainan. One F-4B is shot down, but VF-96 claims one MiG-17 destroyed.[13]
- April 10 – The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff submit a plan for Operation Rolling Thunder which includes a list of major fixed targets in North Vietnam in its section Alpha. It begins the U.S. Navy use of the term "Alpha strike", meaning a large attack by an aircraft carrier air wing.[13]
- April 14 – After aborting its first landing attempt at Jersey Airport on Jersey in the Channel Islands due to low cloud cover, British United Airways Flight 1030X, a Douglas C-47B operated by the British United Airways affiliate British United (C.I.) Airways, strikes the outermost pole of the approach lighting system with its right wing on its second landing attempt. The wing breaks off and the aircraft rolls upside down and crashes, killing 26 of the 27 people on board; one flight attendant survives.
- April 15 – U.S. Navy carrier aircraft strike Viet Cong positions at Black Virgin Mountain in South Vietnam.[13]
- April 23 – The first production C-141A Starlifter cargo aircraft is delivered to the U.S. Air Force ' Military Airlift Command.
May
- May 1 – A Lockheed YF-12 sets a new international airspeed record of 2,070 mph (3,331 km/h).
- May 3
- May 5 – After having trouble seeing the runway while attempting to land in heavy fog at Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the pilot of Iberia Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1049 Constellation, attempts a go-around. Just after he applies full power to begin the go-around, the airliner strikes a tractor on the runway and crashes alongside the runway into Los Rodeos gorge, killing 30 of the 49 people on board.
- May 12 – The prototype HFB-320 Hansa Jet crashes due to a tail design problem; killed was manufacturer Hamburger Flugzeugbau's chief test pilot.
- May 13 – The United States suspends Operation Rolling Thunder strikes against North Vietnam.[13]
- May 15 – The U.S. Navy deploys its first aircraft carrier to Dixie Station in the South China Sea off South Vietnam 's Mekong Delta. It is a single-carrier station for the provision of air support in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,[16] and will remain in use until August 1966.
- May 18
- The United States resumes Operation Rolling Thunder strikes against North Vietnam.[13]
- Members of the United States Naval Reserve begin a volunteer airlift to support forces in South Vietnam, flying Naval Reserve C-54 Skymasters and C-118 Liftmasters on weekends. They will log 19,000 flight hours over the next 18 months alone.[17]
- May 20 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705, a Boeing 720-040B on an inaugural flight carrying mostly journalists and owners of travel agencies and crewed by what the airline considered its best crew members, crashes short of the runway while descending to land at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt, killing 119 of the 125 people on board and injuring all six survivors.
- May 21 – Ernest Brace, an American civilian pilot flying passengers and cargo into Laos for Bird & Son under a Central Intelligence Agency contract, is taken prisoner by Communist ground troops after landing his helicopter in a dry rice paddy in Laos. He will become the longest-held civilian prisoner-of-war of the Vietnam War, serving seven years, 10 months, and one week before being released on March 28, 1973.[18][19]
- May 25 – The Soviet Union announces the construction of surface-to-air missile sites in North Vietnam around Hanoi.
- May 26 – Sir Geoffrey de Havilland dies, aged 82.
June
- June 5
- June 15 – Two U.S. Army UH-1D Iroquois helicopters collide in mid-air over Fort Benning, Georgia, in the United States, killing 18 people.
- June 17 – Two U.S. Navy F-4B Phantom II fighters of Fighter Squadron 21 (VF-21) shoot down four North Vietnamese MiG-17s. They are the first American air-to-air kills of the Vietnam War.
- June 18 – In Operation Arc Light, the U.S. Air Force flies the first B-52 Stratofortress missions of the Vietnam War, striking enemy positions in Bến Cát District in South Vietnam. "Arc Light" will become a commonly used term for B-52 raids during the Vietnam War.
- June 25 – A U.S. Air Force Boeing C135-A bound for Okinawa crashes just after takeoff at MCAS El Toro in Orange County, California, killing all 85 on board.
- June 27 – The Vietnam War 's largest airmobile operation thus far takes place as 150 helicopters airlift the U.S. Army 's 173rd Airborne Brigade and two South Vietnamese Army airborne battalions to attack a Viet Cong stronghold just north of Biên Hòa, South Vietnam.[14]
July
- The U.S. Navy 's A-6 Intruder bomber sees its first combat as it enters service in the Vietnam War.[13]
- July 1
- July 6 – A Handley Page Hastings C1A of the Royal Air Force 's No. 36 Squadron crashes at Little Baldon, Oxfordshire, England, just after takeoff from RAF Abingdon, killing all 41 men on board.
- July 7 – McDonnell Aircraft completes its 1,000th F-4 Phantom II.[21]
- July 8 – A bomb explodes in a rear lavatory aboard Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21, a Douglas DC-6B, in mid-air over British Columbia, Canada, blowing the tail section off. The aircraft crashes, killing all 52 people on board. The bomber is never identified.
- July 10
- Two F-4C Phantom II fighters of the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron shoot down two MiG-17 (NATO reporting name "Fresco") fighters over North Vietnam, scoring the U.S. Air Force 's first aerial victories of the Vietnam War.[22]
- A Skyways Coach-Air Avro 748-101 Series 1 lands heavily on a grass runway at Lympne Airport, Kent, England, digs in its nose wheel, overturns, and crashes, losing both wings and its starboard tailplane. All 52 people on board survive, although at least three are injured.
- July 11 – A U.S. Air Force 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing EC-121H Warning Star crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing 16 of the 19-man crew.
- July 24 – An SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile shoots down an aircraft for the first time in the Vietnam War. The victim is a U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter operating over North Vietnam.[13]
- July 27 – American aircraft strike a surface-to-air missile site for the first time, attacking an SA-2 Guideline site in North Vietnam.[13]
August
- Chinese anti-aircraft units begin operating in North Vietnam.[13]
- August 12 – The United States authorizes Operation Iron Hand air missions in Vietnam to detect and suppress enemy surface-to-air-missile sites. The early Iron Hand strikes result in many losses to the attacking American aircraft.[13]
- August 16 – United Airlines Flight 389, a Boeing 727-22, crashes into Lake Michigan east of Fort Sheridan, Illinois. All 30 people on board die, including Clarence "Clancy" Sayen, a former president of the Air Line Pilots Association.
- August 24 – An American military C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying 71 passengers and crew crashes into Yau Tong Bay in Hong Kong shortly after takeoff. The plane is carrying U.S. military personnel, mostly U.S. Marines flying back to South Vietnam after leave during the Vietnam War. Thirteen people reportedly survive the crash.[23][24]
September
October
- October 3 – The final elements of the U.S. Army 's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) to arrive in Vietnam reach its base at An Khê, South Vietnam, bringing the division to full strength there. The division will be the first to place the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in combat; the Chinook 's ability to carry artillery quickly across rough terrain will revolutionize ground warfare.[27]
- October 4-5 (overnight) – Pope Paul VI flies from New York City to Rome aboard a Trans World Airlines charter flight after completing his historic visit to New York, the only visit to the United States of his papacy.[15]
- October 8 – The 20th Helicopter Squadron becomes the first U.S. Air Force cargo helicopter unit to deploy to South Vietnam, operating CH-3C helicopters. It supports Air Force Special Operations "Pony Express" covert operations, primarily in Laos.[28]
- October 17 – Over North Vietnam, American aircraft carry out their first successful Iron Hand surface-to-air-missile (SAM) site detection and suppression mission.[13]
- October 19 – The U.S. Army 's month-long Ia Drang Valley campaign begins in South Vietnam. It will be the first combat action of the U.S. Army 's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the first major combat between American and North Vietnamese forces.[29]
- October 19–25 – U.S. Army attack helicopters and U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft play a major role in lefting the Siege of Plei Me in South Vietnam.
- October 27 – A raid by Viet Cong sappers against the U.S. Marine Corps 's Marble Mountain Air Facility in South Vietnam destroys 13 UH-1E and six UH-34 helicopters and damages four UH-1Es and 26 UH-34s.[30]
November
December
- December 2 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65) becomes the first nuclear-powered warship to see combat when she launches air strikes at the Viet Cong near Biên Hòa, South Vietnam.
- December 4 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 853, a Lockheed Super Constellation with 54 people on board, and Trans World Airlines Flight 42, a Boeing 707-131B carrying 58 people, collide over Carmel, New York, with the Boeing 's left wing striking the Super Constellation 's tail. The Boeing lands safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, while the Super Constellation crash-lands in a pasture on Hunt Mountain near Danbury, Connecticut, and catches fire; four of those aboard the Super Constellation die.
- December 21 – New York Airways commences helicopter services between the roof of the Pan Am Building and John F. Kennedy International Airport
- December 22 – American aircraft attack industrial targets in North Vietnam for the first time.[32]
- December 25 – Hoping to begin peace talks with the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese, President Lyndon B. Johnson 's administration orders a cessation of American air strikes in Vietnam.[32]
- December 26 – American air strikes in South Vietnam and Laos resume.[32]
First flights
February
April
May
June
July
August
September
- September 7 – Bell Model 209, prototype of the AH-1G Cobra[34]
- September 27 – A-7 Corsair II
November
Entered service
April
May 1965
November
December
References
- ↑ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The King of the Sea", Naval History, February 2012, p. 13.
- ↑ Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-295-6, p. 197.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, pp. 38-39.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 14.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 39.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 152.
- ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 408.
- ↑ Frantiska, Joseph, Jr., "Into the Dragon 's Jaw", Military Heritage, December 2010, pp. 52-54, 57, 74.
- ↑ Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 152, which also claims this event occurred on April 3.
- ↑ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Last Photo Plane", Naval History, October 2010, p. 64.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 91.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 92.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 153.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 41.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1
- ↑ Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9, pp. 8, 153.
- ↑ Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 -- 1999
- ↑ Langer, Emily, "Ernest Brace, longest-serving civilian Prisoner of War in Vietnam, dies at 83," washingtonpost.com, December 9, 2014, 7:30 p.m. EST.
- ↑ Anonymous, "Ernest Brace, civilian POW in Vietnam, dies," Associated Press, December 9, 2014, 4:12 p.m. EST.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 47.
- ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 314.
- ↑ Haulman, Daniel L., One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903-2002, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 2003, no ISBN number, p. 96.
- ↑ "US military plane crash off China". St. Petersburg Times. 24 August 1965. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ↑ "Hope wanes for 58 in crash". The Evening Independent. 25 August 1965. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ↑ Hollway, Don, "Fox Two!", Aviation History, March 2013, p. 57.
- ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 383.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, pp. 48, 120.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, pp. 55-58.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 50.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 44.
- ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, pp. 50-53.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 154.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 55.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 112.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 28.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p.55.
- ↑ Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World 's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 55.
- ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 94.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 274.
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