1955 in aviation explained
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1955.
Events
January
February
- Lake Central Airlines becomes the first employee-owned scheduled airline in history[5] when 162 of its employees (65% of the total) buy 97.5% of the outstanding stock, 25% outright and the rest financed over 24 months.
- February 1 - West Germany′s national civil aviation authority, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Aviation Office), begins operations.
- February 9 - Twenty nautical miles (37 km) southeast of the Tachen Islands, the Peoples Republic of China shoots down a U.S. Navy AD Skyraider attack aircraft covering the evacuation of Nationalist Chinese forces from the islands.[6]
- February 13 - A Sabena Douglas DC-6 crashes on Mount Terminillo, near Rieti, Italy, killing all 29 people on board, including actress and model Marcella Mariani.
- February 19 - Trans World Airlines Flight 260, a Martin 4-0-4, crashes in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing all 16 people on board.
- February 24 - The United States Navy Convair R3Y-1 Tradewind Coral Sea Tradewind sets a new speed record for a flying boat flight across the continental United States, flying from San Diego, California, to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in 6 hours at an average speed of 403 mph (639 km/h). The record remains unbroken.[7] [8]
- February 26 - George F. Smith becomes the first person to survive a supersonic ejection, from a North American F-100 Super Sabre travelling at Mach 1.05.[9] [10]
March
- March 11 - Pakistan International Airlines is formed to serve as Pakistan′s national airline. Orient Airways ceases operations and merges into the new airline.
- March 20 - American Airlines Flight 711, a Convair CV-240, strikes the ground during final approach at Springfield, Missouri, killing 13 of the 35 on board.
- March 22 - Descending to land in darkness and heavy rain at Hickam Air Force Base, Territory of Hawaii, the crew of United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster 131612 of Air Transport Squadron 3 (VR-3) makes a navigational error, and the plane crashes into Pali Kea Peak in Oahus Waianae Range 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Honolulu and explodes, killing all 66 people on board. At the time, it is the worst accident involving any version of the Douglas DC-6, and it remains the worst air disaster in the history of Hawaii and the deadliest heavier-than-air accident in U.S. naval aviation history.[11] [12] It will tie with the August 11 mid-air collision of two United States Air Force C-119G Flying Boxcars over West Germany and the October 6 crash of United Airlines Flight 409 in Wyoming as the deadliest air accident of 1955.
- March 24 - An Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck becomes the first Canadian jet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.[13]
- March 25 - During a test flight with afterburner, the Lockheed XF-104 achieves a speed of Mach 1.79 (1,181.4 mph, 1,901.3 km/h).[14]
- March 26 - The number three propeller and engine detach from the Pan American World Airways Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-26 Clipper United States, operating as Flight 845/26 with 23 people on board, forcing it to ditch in the Pacific Ocean 35 miles (58 km) off the coast of Oregon, killing four people. The United States Navy attack transport rescues the 19 survivors about two hours later.
April
- A Cunard Line report assesses that airlines do not pose a threat to the transatlantic ocean liner business because political interference with airline routes prevents aircraft from having the freedom of navigation that ships enjoy.[15]
- The United States Navy's Grumman F9F-9 supersonic fighter is redesignated as the F11F-1.[2]
- April 1 - Post-World War II bans on powered flight in West Germany are lifted and Lufthansa begins operations, providing service linking Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt-am-Main, Cologne, and Munich. The airline acquired the name and logo of the defunct airline Deutsche Luft Hansa in August 1954 and considers it part of its own history but has no legal connection with the earlier airline.
- April 4 - The United Airlines Douglas DC-6 Mainliner Idaho crashes shortly after taking off from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, Islip, New York, on an instrument rating check flight due to an inadvertent reversal of the pitch of the propeller on number 4 engine. The plane is carrying no passengers; all three crew members on board die.
- April 11 - A bomb detonates aboard the Air India Lockheed L-749A Constellation Kashmir Princess, which is carrying delegates to the Bandung Conference in Djakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft explodes in mid-air and crashes into the South China Sea, killing 16 of the 19 people on board. Kuomintang agents planted the bomb in a failed attempt to assassinate Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, who changed his travel plans and is not on the plane.
- April 27 - East Germany and the Soviet Union sign an agreement transferring Berlin Schönefeld Airport from Soviet Army to East German civilian control.
May
June
July
August
- August 1 – Lockheed Article 001, prototype of the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, first takes to the air in what is intended to be only a high-speed taxi test at Groom Lake in Nevada.
- August 4 – American Airlines Flight 476, a Convair CV-240-0 attempting an emergency landing at Forney Army Airfield, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, crashes just short of the runway, after earlier reporting an engine fire. All 27 passengers and three crew members die in the crash. Witnesses report seeing the right wing of the plane break away before the crash; the wing is found on a hill from the main wreckage.[26] [27]
- August 11 – As a formation of nine United States Air Force Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars flies over Edelweiler, near Stuttgart, West Germany, on a training mission carrying troops, one of them, a C-119G, experiences engine trouble, loses altitude momentarily, pulls upward abruptly, and collides with another C-119G. Both aircraft crash, killing all 19 people aboard one and all 47 aboard the other. The combined death toll of 66 makes it the worst aviation accident in German history at the time and the deadliest ever involving any variant of the C-119. It will tie with the March 22 crash of a United States Navy R6D-1 Liftmaster in Hawaii and the October 6 crash of United Airlines Flight 409 in Wyoming as the deadliest air accident of 1955.[28] [29]
- August 20 – Flying a U.S. Air Force North American F-100C Super Sabre, Horace A. Haines sets a world speed record of 822.135 mph (1,323.889 km/h).[30]
- August 29 – A Royal Air Force English Electric Canberra sets a new world altitude record of 65,876 ft (20,079 m).[31]
- August 31 – Lockheed Aircraft Corporation engineering test pilot Stanley Beltz is killed in a crash near Lancaster, California, while piloting an F-94B Starfire modified to test the nose section of the BOMARC missile.[32]
September
October
November
- November 1 - The Douglas DC-6B Mainliner Denver, operating as United Airlines Flight 629, is destroyed over Longmont, Colorado, by a bomb planted by Jack Gilbert Graham, who is attempting to cash in his mother's life insurance policies. All 44 on board, his mother among them, are killed. Graham will be executed for the crime on January 11, 1957.
- November 22 - A Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 (NATO reporting name "Badger") drops the first Soviet thermo-nuclear bomb, RDS-37, in Siberia.
December
- Royal Air Force Bomber Command becomes an all-jet operation upon the retirement of its last piston engine Avro Lancasters from bomber duty.
- December 4 – Glenn L. Martin, founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company, dies at age 69.
- December 13 – The de Havilland Comet 3, the worlds first jet airliner, visits an American airport for the first time when it stops at Honolulu International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, during an around-the-world flight. It then flies to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 5 hours 39 minutes.[37]
- December 15 – The de Havilland Mosquito flies its final operational sortie with the Royal Air Force.
- December 24 - As a public relations move, the U.S. Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) issues a statement to the press claiming that it is tracking Santa Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve, adding that "CONAD, Army, Navy and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas." It begins the annual tradition of CONAD and its successor, the North American Air Defense Command (later renamed the North American Aerospace Defense Command) reporting the tracking of Santa Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve, with the "reports" of his progress becoming more and more elaborate in future years.[38]
First flights
January
February
March
April
May
- May 27 – Sud Caravelle[40]
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Entered service
January
February
May
June
Retirements
Deadliest crash
Three crashes may claim the joint title of 1955's deadliest plane crash; two of these cases involved military aircraft. The first took place on 22 March, when the 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash, involving a United States Air Force Douglas DC-6, took place in mountainous terrain of Oahu, Hawaii, U.S., killing all 66 people on board. The second took place on 11 August, when two USAF Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars collided during a training formation near Altensteig, West Germany, killing all 66 people aboard both aircraft. The third, and the deadliest civilian aircraft case of 1955, took place on 6 October, when United Air Lines Flight 409, a Douglas DC-4 which crashed into Medicine Bow Peak near Laramie, Wyoming, U.S., killing all 66 people on board.
References
- Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1955–56, New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955.
- Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1956–57, New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1956.
Notes and References
- Web site: Loftleiðir komu Lúxemborg á kortið. www.mbl.is. is. Airways came to Luxembourg on the map.
- Polmar, Norman, "A Limited Success," Naval History, August 2015, p. 64.
- Book: Crosby, Francis. The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day. London. Hermes House. 2006. 9781846810008. 288.
- Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press,, p. 613.
- Aviation Week 21 Feb 1955 p111
- Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press,, p. 614.
- Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: Great But Impractical Aircraft," Naval History, June 2012, p. 13.
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/r3y.htm globalsecurity.org Convair XP5Y-1/R3Y Tradewind flying boat
- Web site: UNITED STATES AIR FORCE CHRONOLOGY . Hill Air Force Base . 14 April 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081009112421/http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5829 . 9 October 2008 .
- Web site: Supersonic Nightmare. 22 February 2011 . 14 April 2016.
- Web site: ASN Aircraft accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131612 Honolulu, HI. Harro. Ranter. aviation-safety.net.
- Web site: Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 -- 1999 . 2012-12-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm . 2016-03-31 . dead .
- Guttman, Jon, "Canada's Contribution: The Canuck," Aviation History, May 2014, p. 42.
- Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 282.
- Maxtone-Graham, John, The Only Way to Cross, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,, p. 409.
- Web site: nationalwarcollege.org "Remembering James E. McInerney, Jr., Class of 1970," 16 October 2014, 15:26. . 2014-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141104013554/http://www.nationalwarcollege.org/alumni-news/farewell-salute/item/365-remembering-james-e-mcinerney-jr-class-of-1970 . 2014-11-04 . dead .
- Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press,, p. 621.
- Handleman, Philip, "Discovering Purpose in the Sky," Aviation History, July 2017, p. 12 (photo caption).
- Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," Naval History, August 2010, p. 17.
- Bridgman 1956, p. 12.
- Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press,, p. 598.
- News: Four Killed In Air Crash. The Times. London. 1955-07-01. 10. 53261.
- Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,, p. 2.
- Web site: Haulman . Daniel L. . 2003 . One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903-2002 . Air University Press . 78 . Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
- Web site: Famous people who died in aviation accidents. planecrashinfo.com.
- News: 5 August 1955 . Tragedy near air strip . 1 . . 12 September 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- Web site: ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-0 N94221 Fort Leonard Wood-Forney AAF, MO (TBN) . Ranter . Harro . . 2016-07-03.
- Web site: Ranter . Harro . ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar 53-3222 Edelweiler . 2022-09-12 . www.aviation-safety.net.
- Web site: Ranter . Harro . ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild C-119G Flying Boxcar 53-7841 Edelweiler . 2022-09-12 . www.aviation-safety.net.
- Book: Angelucci, Enzo . The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present . New York . . 1987 . 978-0-517-56588-9 . 352.
- Book: Donald . David . The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft . New York . . 1997 . 978-0-7607-0592-6 . 89.
- Logan . Willy . Death of a Quiet Birdman . . September 2010 . 21 . 2022-07-28 . HistoryNet.
- Hammel, Eric, Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992,, p. 88.
- Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,, p. 213.
- Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,, p. 215.
- Golan, John, "Heinemann's Hot Rod," Aviation History, January 2015, p. 30.
- Web site: Hawaii Aviation. aviation.hawaii.gov.
- Web site: Where Does NORAD's Santa Tracker Really Come From?. Yoni. Appelbaum. December 24, 2015. The Atlantic.
- Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,, p. 273.
- Bridgman 1955, p. 40.
- Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,, p. 451.
- Bridgman 1955, pp. 208–209.
- Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,, p. 404.
- Bridgman 1956, p. 38.
- Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,, p. 408.
- Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,, p. 116.
- Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,, p. 70.