1960 in aviation

yearbox
in?=in aviation
cp=19th Century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1957
yp2=1958
yp3=1959
year=1960
ya1=1961
ya2=1962
ya3=1963
dp3=1930s
dp2=1940s
dp1=1950s
d=1960s
dn1=1970s
dn2=1980s
dn3=1990s

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1960:

Events

January

* January 1 - Fiji Airways is reconstituted, becoming equally owned by BOAC, Qantas, and Tasman Empire Airways.

February

* February 9 - the US Air Force opens its National Space Surveillance Control Centre at Bedford, Massachusetts.
* February 13 - France detonates its first nuclear weapon

April

* April 6 - the Short SC.1 makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight and back.
* April 10 - BOAC re-opens its air routes to Cairo. They had been suspended at the time of the Suez Crisis.
* April 13 - the United Kingdom terminates ballistic missile research, preferring to simply purchase the US-developed Skybolt missile.

May

* May 1 - CIA pilot Gary Powers is captured by the Soviet Union when his Lockheed U-2 is shot down near Sverdlovsk
* May 12 - a USAF C-130 Hercules drops a record 35,000 lb (15,876 kg) by parachute.

June

* June 1 - Trans-Canada Air Lines begins transatlantic services, flying between Montreal and London

July

* July 1 - British United Airways is formed
* July 1 - PVO Strany MiG-19 shoots down an RB-47H Stratojet (s/n 53-4281) in international airspace with 4 of the crew killed and 2 captured by the Soviets
* July 9 - Sabena begins airlifting Belgian nationals out of Congo. Over the next three weeks, 25,711 will fly home

August

* August 16 - Captain (later Colonel) Joseph Kittinger (USAF) sets a world record for highest parachute jump (102,200 ft or 31,150m) and longest parachute freefall (84,700 ft or 25,815 m) while testing high altitude parachute escape systems in Project Excelsior.
* August 18 - a C-119 Flying Boxcar recovers a data capsule from the Discoverer 14 satellite in mid-air.

eptember

* September 10 - NORAD carries out Operation Sky Shield, testing US and Canadian radar systems.
* September 15 - Tasman Empire Airways retires its last flying boat from service.
* September 17 - East African Airways commences jet services between London and Nairobi

October

* October 27 - Air Mali is established
* October 31 - BEA retires its last piston-engined airliners.

First flights

January

* January 10 - Auster D.5
* January 14 - Piper Cherokee

February

* February 5 - PZL TS-11 Iskra
* February 12 - Auster D.4 "G-25-8"
* February 29 - Beechcraft Baron

April

* April 19 - Grumman A2F-1, A-6 Intruder prototype

May

* May 9 - Auster D.6 "G-25-10"

June

* June 24 - Avro 748

October

* Dassault Mirage IIIC (production model)
* October 21 - Hawker P.1127 (tethered flight)
* October 25 - Boeing Vertol Model 107, predecessor to the CH-46 Sea Knight.

November

* November 16 - Canadair CL-44

December

* Agusta A.104 "I-AGUM"
* December 6 - Sikorsky S-61

Entered service

June
* June 29 - English Electric Lightning with No. 74 Squadron RAF at RAF Coltishall