During flight testing, the prototype of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force′s (IJAAF) Nakajima Ki-43 (Allied reporting name "Oscar") fighter displays poor takeoff and landing characteristics and proves to be far less maneuverable and only slightly faster than the fighter it is intended to replace, the Nakajima Ki-27 (Allied reporting name "Nate"). The IJAAF considers ending further development of the Ki-43, but its co-designer, Hideo Itokawa, convinces the IJAAF to allow him to redesign the aircraft.[4]
January 5 – Pioneering U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart is officially declared dead, eighteen months after her disappearance over the Pacific.[5]
January 26 – In the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona surrenders to Nationalist forces. In the days leading up to the surrender, Nationalist aircraft have raided the city continually, especially targeting ships in port to prevent them from saving Republican refugees from capture.[8]
January 29 – Karl Bode breaks the world altitude record for helicopters, flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 61 helicopter to an altitude of 3,427 meters (11,243 feet). It is the last official record set by a German helicopter produced prior to 1945.
February 11 – The Lockheed XP-38 falls 17 minutes short of the record for a flight across the United States, flying from March Field, California, to Mitchel Field, New York, in 7 hours 43 minutes. It loses power and crashes during its final approach at Mitchell Field, but its pilot is unhurt and the flight is considered an impressive demonstration of range and speed for a fighter.[10]
February 12 – Spanish Nationalist forces have 600 aircraft, compared to only 40 available on the Republican side.[11]
March 18 – During a test flight of a Boeing 307 Stratoliner (registration NX19901) at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), a KLMtest pilot attempts a pre-approved test of the aircraft's flying characteristics at low speed with both engines on one side shut down. The Stratoliner stalls, goes into a spin, loses its wings and tail section, and crashes near Alder, Washington, killing all 10 people on board.[16]
March 25 – Ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Nationalist and Republican officials which include a Nationalist demand that all Spanish Republican Air Force aircraft fly to Nationalist airfields to surrender on this day are broken off when Republican aircraft do not surrender. A major motivation for the Nationalist demand is to prevent Republican leaders from fleeing Spain by air; six Republican aircraft carry officials and refugees from central Spain to France on this day.[17]
March 26 – Republican leader Segismundo Casado López telegraphs Nationalist leader Francisco Franco, announcing that the Spanish Republican Air Force will surrender to Nationalist forces the following day. Franco replies that Nationalist armies would advance on Republican territory anyway.[18]
Nationalist leader Francisco Franco announces that the Spanish Civil War has ended in a complete Nationalist victory. During the 32½-month war, the Nationalists have used about 1,300 aircraft and the Republicans about 1,500; about 10,000 people have died in air attacks. Early Republican numerical air superiority had been challenged almost immediately by the technical superiority of Italian Fiat CR.32 fighters and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81, and German Junkers Ju 52 bomber-transports; Soviet Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters had given the Republicans air superiority in the winter of 1936–1937, but the Nationalists had achieved lasting air superiority after German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and Heinkel He 111 bombers and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers had arrived in 1937. Germany has sent about 600 aircraft to Spain, Italy about 660, the Soviet Union 1,000, and other countries (principally France) about 350. The German, Italian, and Soviet air forces have learned a great deal about the employment of modern aircraft in warfare through their involvement, and the Luftwaffe'sCondor Legion in particular has used the conflict to test new aircraft and revolutionary new air warfare concepts.[21][22]
The Spanish Republican government airline LAPE ceases operations. The Franco government expropriates LAPE's aircraft and transfers them to the airline Iberia.
On the ninth anniversary of its founding, the Fieseler aircraft manufacturing company changes its name from Fieseler Flugzeugbau Kassel to the Gerhard Fieseler Werke GmbH.
April 3 – The leading ace of the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist pilot Joaquín García Morato y Castaño, dies when his Fiat CR.32 fighter crashes while he is performing low-level aerobatics for newsreel cameras. He had scored 40 victories during the war.
April 26 – German LuftwaffeFlugkapitänFritz Wendel sets a new world air speed record, reaching 755.59 km/h (469.50 mph) in the Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 racing aircraft. The German government will report that the record was set by an "Me 109R," a false designation used as part of a 1939 propaganda campaign to confuse other countries into thinking that the Me 209 is an advanced variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter.[19][23]
The Imperial Japanese Navy's air arm conducts the first Japanese bombing raid on Chungking, China, an incendiary raid which causes huge fires and inflicts enormous casualties. Raids will increase in size and intensity over the next two years.[24]
May 24 – The Royal Navy takes practical control of British naval aircraft for the first time since the dissolution of the Royal Naval Air Service in 1918. British naval aircraft, since 1918 under Royal Air Force control and since 1924 known collectively as the "Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force," officially become the Royal Navy's Air Branch, although the term "Fleet Air Arm" remains in widespread informal use and finally will be adopted officially in 1953.[29]
May 26 – German personnel of the Condor Legion depart Spain.[28]
May 31 – Italian forces, including the "legionary air force," depart Spain.[28]
June 29 – During another Khalkhin Gol Incident dogfight between Soviet and Japanese aircraft, the Soviets claim to have shot down 25 Japanese planes in exchange for the loss of two Soviet aircraft.[31]
Serving as a testbed for the Heinkel HeS 3turbojet with the jet engine slung under its fuselage, a Heinkel He 118dive bomber takes off and lands using its piston engine but flies under jet power after the turbojet is started in flight. It is the first time any aircraft makes any part of a flight under jet power, and the successful test leads to the first flight made completely under turbojet power by the Heinkel He 178 the following month.[35]
July 13 – First Boeing 307 Stratoliner delivered, to Howard Hughes, which he intended to use for a round the world flight that would be cancelled with the outbreak of war in Europe.[30]
July 30 – Commanded by MajorCaleb V. Haynes, the United States Army Air CorpsBoeing XB-15 sets two payload-to-altitude world records in a single flight over Fairfield, Ohio, by carrying 14,135 kilograms (31,162 pounds) to an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) and 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) to an altitude of 8,228 feet (2,508 meters).[37] Haynes will receive certificates from the National Aeronautics Association for an international record for "the greatest payload carried to an altitude of 2,000 meters."[38]
August 2 – Under the command of MajorCaleb V. Haynes, the United States Army Air CorpsBoeing XB-15 sets a world record for speed over a closed circuit of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) with a 2.000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload, averaging 267.67 km/h (166.32 mph).[37] During the same flight, it sets a U.S. national distance record for flight over a closed circuit of 3,129.241 miles (5,036.025 km).[38]
August 20 – Since the beginning of the Khalkhin Gol Incident on May 11, the Soviet Union has claimed 320 Japanese aircraft shot down and another 35 destroyed on the ground.[31]
August 26 – The Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 (registration D-INJR) sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph), not officially broken by another piston-engined aircraft until 1969.
August 24 – The Royal Air Force forms the Advanced Air Striking Force. Initially consisting of 10 squadronsofFairey Battle bombers, its mission is to deploy to France in the event of war with Germany and strike targets in Germany from French bases.
August 28 – Two months after its creation, the United Kingdom's Women's Auxiliary Air Force mobilises in case war with Germany breaks out.[33]
August 29 – Swissair suspends flight operations due to foreign airspace closures and the mobilization of most of its employees for Swiss military service. It will gradually reintroduce some flights during the course of World War II until suspending them all again in August 1944.
August 30 – The Deutsche Luft Hansa Junkers Ju 52/3mte Karl Hochmuth (registration D-AFOP) crashes just after takeoff from Hannover, Germany, killing all seven people on board.[41]
The German Luftwaffe has 3,650 combat aircraft (1,170 bombers, 335 dive bombers, 1,125 single-engine fighters, 195 twin-engine fighters, 620 reconnaissance aircraft, and 205 coastal aircraft); a reserve force of between 10 and 25 percent of each of these types; and a training organization with 500 operational types used for operational training and 2,500 other training aircraft.[43]
September 2
In anticipation of war breaking out with Germany, the Royal Air Force'sAdvanced Air Striking Force deploys to bases around Rheims, France.
By the end of the day, the Luftwaffe has achieved virtually complete air superiority over Poland. It switches over to support of German Army ground forces for the rest of the Polish campaign, knocking out roads, railroads, and bridges – sometimes so effectively that the movement of Polish Army forces becomes impossible – and attacking Polish troop concentrations and destroying artillery and antiaircraft artillery units.[42]
September 15 – The Khalkhin Gol Incident concludes in a Soviet victory over the Imperial Japanese Army. In the final August 20 – September 15 Soviet offensive, the Soviet Air Force claims the destruction of another 290 Japanese aircraft, bringing the total Soviet claim since the beginning of the Incident on May 11 to 645 Japanese planes destroyed. The Soviets claim to have lost only 34 aircraft in the last two months of the conflict.[31]
September 18 – Its bases in eastern Poland threatened by advancing Soviet forces, the Polish Air Force evacuates to Romania.
September 19 – Germany halts construction of its second Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier, Flugzeugträger B, while she still is on the building ways. Work on the ship never will be resumed.
AsAdolf Hitler looks on from a camouflaged bunker outside of the city, about 400 Luftwaffe bombers – some flying more than one sortie during the day – attack Warsaw, Poland, in conjunction with a German Army artillery bombardment, leaving the entire city ablaze. Its defenders surrender the next day.[42]
October 6 – The Polish campaign ends as Germany and the Soviet Union gain effective control over all of Poland. During the campaign, the Luftwaffe has lost 285 aircraft – 79 fighters, 78 bombers, 31 dive bombers, and 97 other aircraft – destroyed; 279 aircraft damaged; and 413 aircrew killed and 126 wounded.[42] Poland has lost 333 aircraft.
October 8 – The Royal Air Force scores its first aerial victory of World War II when a Lockheed Hudson shoots down a German Dornier Do 18 over Jutland.
December 4 – Flying in bad weather, an Ala LittoriaJunkers Ju 52/3mlu (registration I-BAUS) strikes a hillside near Bayerisch Eisenstein, Germany, at an altitude of about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) during the final leg of a flight from MunichtoBerlin and crashes, killing four of the 17 people on board.[52]
December 13 – A Fairey Seafoxfloatplanecatapulted from the British light cruiserHMS Ajax spots fire for her guns while she fires on the German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. It is the first time in World War II that a ship-based seaplane spots gunfire for a Royal Navy ship and is considered a classic example of the use of a floatplane in such a role; the pilot, Lieutenant E. D. G. Lewin, receives the Distinguished Service Cross for the action. The Seafox goes on to conduct reconnaissance flights over the Admiral Graf Spee daily until her crew scuttles her on December 17.[53]
^ abAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN978-0-517-56588-9, p. 263.
^Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN978-0-671-75876-9, p. 890.
^Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN978-0-671-75876-9, p. 892.
^Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN978-0-671-75876-9, pp. 910–911.
^Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN978-0-671-75876-9, p. 912.
^ abBoyne, Walter J., "Lost Luftwaffe Airplanes," Aviation History, November 2015, p. 35.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN978-0-517-56588-9, p. 382.
^Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, p. 117-118.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, p. 19.
^ abcMondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, 1978, ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 35.
^ abcdThomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN978-0-671-75876-9, p. 920.
^Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 32.
^ abDijkstra, Ronald (2016). "Boeing 100 jaar - 80 jaar samenwerking met de KLM". Luchtvaart Historisch Tijdschrift LUCHTVAARTKENNIS (en:Aviation Historical Magazine AVIATION KNOWLEDGE) (in Dutch). Vol. 3, no. 65. Holland: Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Luchtscheepvaart (en:Association for the Promotion of Aviation). p. 81. ISSN1381-9100.
^ abcdHardesty, Von, Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941–1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982, ISBN978-0-87474-510-8, p. 51.
^ abcdPrice, Alfred, Luftwaffe: Birth, Life, and Death of an Air Force, New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1969, p. 40.
^Price, Alfred, Luftwaffe: Birth, Life, and Death of an Air Force, New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1969, p. 26.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 26.
^Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 14.
^ abAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 156.
^Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 33.
^Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 33-34.
^Condon, Richard W., The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, p. 7.
^Condon, Richard W., The Winter War: Russia Against Finland, New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1972, pp. 29, 30, 32.
^Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN978-1-55750-432-6, p. 118.
^Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN1-55750-076-2, pp. 17, 151–152.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 80.
^Hinchcliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, ISBN978-0-7858-1418-4, p. 27.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, pp. 451, 453.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, pp. 207, 569.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, pp. 169–170.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN978-0-517-56588-9, p. 388.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, pp. 364, 570.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 65.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, p. 146, 570.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, p. 179.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, p. 103.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 81.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, pp. 224, 567.
^Boyne, Walter J., "Unfettered Turkeys," Aviation History, July 2008, p. 47.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN978-0-517-56588-9, p. 457.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 40.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, pp. 378–379.
^Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN978-0-87021-313-7, p. 170.
^Polmar, Norma, "Historic Aircraft: The Hall Contribution," Naval History, February 2014, p. 15.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, pp. 160–161.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 92.
