1938 in aviation

Years in aviation: 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
Centuries: 19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
Years: 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1938:

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

  • In an Imperial Japanese Navy raid on a Nationalist Chinese airfield at Nanchang, three Japanese aircraft land on the field and their pilots disembark to shoot up Chinese personnel, barracks, and hangars and set Chinese aircraft on fire on foot before taking off and departing unscathed. The Japanese will use this attack technique on several future occasions.[41]
  • July 5 – 400 aircraft support a Spanish Nationalist offensive in Valencia.[42]
  • July 11 – Willy Messerschmitt purchases the controlling interest in his employer, Bayerische Fluzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works) of Augsburg, renaming it Messerschmitt AG after himself; aircraft from the previously abbreviated BFW firm retained their Bf prefixes from being flown before this date, those designs first flown after this date received the later Me prefix.[43][44]
  • July 14 – Howard Hughes flies a Lockheed 14N around the world in 3 days 19 hours, to and from Floyd Bennett Field New York, more than halving the time that Wiley Post took to make the trip.
  • July 15 – A German Arado Ar 79 training and touring aircraft sets an international solo speed record over a 1,000-km (621.4-statute mile) course for an aircraft of its class, averaging 229.04 km/h (142.32 mph).[45]
  • July 17–18 – After filing a flight plan to fly nonstop from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, west to California, Douglas Corrigan instead heads east after takeoff and makes a 28-hour 13-minute solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland, claiming to have made a gross navigational error. He goes down in history as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
  • July 20–21 – The Short S.20 Mercury, flying as a component of the Short Mayo Composite aircraft combination, makes the world's first commercial heavier-than-air crossing of the North Atlantic Ocean, flying non-stop 4,667 km (2,900 mi) from Foynes, Ireland, to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with a 454 kg (1,001 lb) payload. It then flies on to New York City, covering a total distance of 5,214 km (3,240 mi) in 22 hours 31 minutes of flying time.[46]
  • July 24 – Disaster strikes when a Colombian Air Force pilot performing an aerobatic display in a Curtiss Hawk II biplane fighter at a military review at Campo de Marte, Santa Ana, Usaquén, Colombia, disregards orders to remain above 500 feet (150 meters) and attempts to fly between the camp's presidential grandstand and diplomatic grandstand. His wingtop strikes the diplomatic grandstand, and his aircraft careens into the presidential grandstand, destroying part of its roof, before crashing into a crowd of spectators on the ground between the two grandstands, bursting into flames and sliding through them before coming to a stop upside down. An estimated 50 to 75 people are killed, and another 100 people – including future President of Colombia Misael Pastrana Borrero – are injured. Outgoing Colombian President Alfonso López Pumarejo and his successor Eduardo Santos are in the presidential grandstand but avoid injury.[47][48][49]
  • July 25 – The Battle of the Ebro begins in Spain with a Republican offensive. Although Nationalist bombers attack bridges over the Ebro, Nationalist fighters are still deployed in Valencia and Spanish Republican fighter pilots trained in the Soviet Union gain local air superiority flying improved versions of the Polikarpov I-15 and I-16.[50]
  • July 28
  • July 29
    • The Pan American World Airways Martin M-130 flying boat Hawaii Clipper disappears over the western Pacific Ocean 300 miles off the coast of the Philippine Islands in the vicinity of 12°27′00″N 130°40′00″E / 12.45000°N 130.66667°E / 12.45000; 130.66667 ("Hawaii Clipper disappears") during a flight from Guam to Manila with 15 people on board. No trace of the aircraft or those on board ever is found. Pan American previously had flown 228 transpacific flights, logging nearly 15 million passenger miles, without serious incident.[52]
    • Former Soviet Air Force commander-in-chief Yakov Alksnis is executed, a victim of the Great Purge.[53]
    • An Arado Ar 79 sets an international solo speed record over a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) course for an aircraft of its class, averaging 227.029 km/h (141.069 mph).[45]
  • July 29-August 11 – During the Lake Khasan Incident along the border between the Soviet Union and Manchukuo, 70 fighters and 180 bombers of the Soviet Air Force conduct heavy strikes against Imperial Japanese Army positions.[54]

August

September

October

November

December

  • National Aviation, the Spanish Nationalist air force, has 500 aircraft, enough to ensure it air superiority in the Spanish Civil War.[68]
  • December 5 – At a meeting of the French Permanent Committee on National Defense, Chief of Staff for National Defense General Maurice Gamelin advocates that France immediately order 1,000 military planes from the United States. The committee approves his proposal.[69]
  • December 8 – Deutsche Werke launches Germany's first aircraft carrier, Graf Zeppelin, at Kiel. She will never be completed.[70]
  • December 12 – The Nakajima Aircraft Company completes the prototype of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force′s Nakajima Ki-43 (Allied reporting name "Oscar") fighter.[71]
  • December 15 – Piloting the prototype of the Polikarpov I-180 fighter on its first light, famed Soviet test pilot Valery Chkalov apparently miscalculates his landing approach and comes in short of the airfield and, when he attempts to correct his error, the engine stalls and the plane crashes into power lines. Chkalov is thrown from the cockpit ad dies of his injuries two hours later. The crash deals a blow to aircraft designer Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov′s reputation with Josef Stalin and effectively ends his career.
  • December 29–31 – A German Arado Ar 79 training and touring aircraft sets an international long-distance record for an aircraft of its class, flying 6,303 km (3,917 statute miles) from Benghazi, Libya, to Gaya, India, nonstop at an average speed of 160 km/h (99 mph).[45]
  • December 30 – The Italian Piaggio P.23R sets two new world records for payload and speed over distance, carrying a payload of 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) over a distance of 1,000 km (620 mi) and over a distance of 2,000 km (1,200 mi) at an average speed for each distance of 404 km/h (251 mph).[72]

First flights

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Entered service

January

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Retirements

April

References

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  2. ^ A Chronological History of Coast Guard Aviation: The Early Years, 1915–1938.
  3. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 864.
  4. ^ Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN 978-0-87021-313-7, p. 21.
  5. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 720.
  6. ^ a b Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 794.
  7. ^ Geoghegan, John J., "Vanished!", Aviation History, November 2013, p. 34.
  8. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 792.
  9. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, pp. 794–795.
  10. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  11. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  12. ^ a b 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. 223.
  13. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  14. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  15. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  16. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 798.
  17. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 800.
  18. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 804.
  19. ^ "Airport History". George Best Belfast City Airport. Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  20. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, pp. 804–805.
  21. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, pp. 800–802.
  22. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  23. ^ a b c Murray, Williamson, Strategy for Defeat: The Luftwaffe 1933–1945, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 1983, no ISBN, p. 18.
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  25. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  26. ^ Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-55750-432-6, p. 114–115.
  27. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  28. ^ Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-55750-432-6, p. 111.
  29. ^ Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-55750-432-6, p. 116.
  30. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  31. ^ "30 Jun 1938, 1 - The Fresno Bee at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  32. ^ "19 Dec 1940, 17 - The Fresno Bee at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  33. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  34. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
  35. ^ Hull Daily Mail - Saturday 04 June 1938
  36. ^ Derby Daily Telegraph - Saturday 04 June 1938
  37. ^ a b The Main Events of the Spanish Civil War
  38. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 827.
  39. ^ encyclopedia.com Civil Aeronautics Act
  40. ^ Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description
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  42. ^ Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-671-75876-9, p. 832.
  43. ^ Flight (Oct 5, 1939)
  44. ^ Wagner, Ray; Nowarra, Heinz (1971). German Combat Planes: A Comprehensive Survey and History of the Development of German Military Aircraft from 1914 to 1945. New York City: Doubleday & Company. p. 229.
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  47. ^ "COLOMBIA: Death & Bolivar". Time. August 1, 1938. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  48. ^ "Plane Dives in Crowd". The Evening Independent. Associated Press. July 25, 1938. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  49. ^ Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango "La gran pausa de Eduardo Santos" (in Spanish)
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  57. ^ [Time Magazine, September 5, 1938.]
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  71. ^ [Guttman, John, "Nakajima′s Fragile Falcon," Aviation History, May 2017, p. 31.]
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  82. ^ Pomata, Anthony (April 21, 2001). "Boeing's Model 314 Clipper Flying Boat". historylink.org. HistoryLink.org. Retrieved April 22, 2017. Test pilot Eddie Allen flew the Boeing 314 NX18601 Clipper on its first flight on June 7, 1938, from the waters of Puget Sound, in Seattle and remained aloft for 38 minutes.
  83. ^ Hazewinkel 1994, p 59
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  • Hazewinkel, Harm J. (April 1994). "Koolhoven's Unwanted Fighter". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 22, no. 4. pp. 58–62. ISSN 0143-7240.
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