Online Encyclopedia

1952 in aviation

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

January

February

February 10 - Maj 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 US aircraft. He shot down two before being shot down himself.

May

May 1 - the IATA agrees on new "tourist class" fares, which are adopted by Pan Am on its NewYork-London "Rainbow service"
May 2 - BOAC introduces the de Havilland DH.108 Comet on its London-Johannesburg route, the first regular service flown by a jet airliner. G-AYLP makes the first flight.
May 12 - Sqn Ldr 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 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 to Sariwon

June

June 16-17 - Soviet Air Force MiG-15s shoot down a Royal 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 23-24 - in the most intense use of airpower of the Korean War, US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft fly 1,200 sorties against North Korean power generation facilities.

July

July 1 - the Portugese 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 15-31 - a pair of USAF H-19 Chickasaws make the first transatlantic crossing by helicopter
July 29 - a USAF RB-45 Tornado makes the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific by jet

August

August 9 - Lt Peter Carmichael of No. 802 Squadron FAA aboard HMS Ocean claims the Fleet Air Arm's first MiG-15 kill, from a Hawker Sea Fury.
August 28 - a F6F Hellcat is loaded with explosives and flown as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam

September