1952 in aviation

yearbox
in?=in aviation
cp=19th Century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1949
yp2=1950
yp3=1951
year=1952
ya1=1953
ya2=1954
ya3=1955
dp3=1920s
dp2=1930s
dp1=1940s
d=1950s
dn1=1960s
dn2=1970s
dn3=1980s

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

Events

January

* January 5 - Pan Am commences trans-atlantic freight services.
* January 22 - The de Havilland Comet became the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to awarded a certificate of airworthiness.

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-ALYP" 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 back from an attack on Sariwon

June

* 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 23-24 - 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 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 15-31 - a pair of USAF Sikorsky H-19s 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 piston-engined 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

eptember

* September 6 - the de Havilland DH.110 prototype, "WG236", disintegrates at the Farnborough Airshow, killing 28 spectators as well as its pilot

October

* October 26 - a BOAC Comet is badly damaged in an accident during take-off from Rome

December

* December 20 - A USAF C-124 Globemaster II, "50-100", c/n 43238, crashed on take-off from Larson AFB in Moses Lake, WA, USA, killing 87 servicemen- the highest confirmed death toll of any accident in aviation history at the time.

First flights

January

* January 3 - Bristol Type 173 "G-ALBN"
* January 21 - Saab 210

April

* April 15 - Boeing YB-52 "49-231"
* April 27 - Tupolev "88" prototype of Tupolev Tu-16

June

* June 19 - Yak-120 prototype of Yakovlev Yak-25

July

* July 3 - Yak-24 twin engine tandem helicopter
* July 23 - Fouga Magister

August

* August 6 - Boulton Paul P.120 "VT951"
* August 16 - Bristol Britannia "G-ALBO"
* August 22 - Saunders-Roe Princess "G-ALUN"
* August 30 - Avro Vulcan"VX770"

eptember

* September 10 - BOMARC surface-to-air missile
* September 20 - Douglas X-3 Stiletto
* September 28 - Dassault Mystère IV
* September 30 - GAM-63 RASCAL surface-to-air missile

October

* October 16 - Sud Aviation Vautour
* October 28 - Douglas XA3D-1

November

* November 3 - Saab Lansen
* November 21 - Percival Pembroke

December

* December 4 - Grumman XS2F-1 Tracker
* December 24 - Handley Page Victor "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

June
* June 17 - airship "ZPN-1" with the US Navy

August
* de Havilland Venom with the RAF