1948 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1948:

[edit] Events

January 17 - BOAC begins to replace flying boat routes with the Lockheed Constellation
January 30 - British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV Star Tiger (G-AHNP) en-route from the Azores to Bermuda disappeared without trace. At last contact the plane was estimated to be just under 2 hours away from landing.
January 30 - Orville Wright, co-inventor of the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft, dies in Dayton, Ohio at the age of 76.

the Israeli Air Force is formed, with the new state of Israel
March 10 - VF-5 becomes the first US Navy carrier squadron to be equipped with jets.
March 19 - BOAC extends its Hong Kong service to Japan
March 23 - Grp Cpt John Cunningham sets a new world altitude record of 59,446 ft (18,119 m) in a de Havilland Vampire.
March 28 - B-29 Superfortresses undergo aerial refueling tests, demonstrating the viability of this technique to extend the range of strategic bombers.

two specially modified Gloster Meteors begin carrier trials aboard HMS Implacable.
April 3 - Alitalia recommences services to the UK
April 25 - a North American YP-86 becomes the first jet-powered aircraft to exceed Mach 1.

May 15 - Tel Aviv is attacked by the Egyptian Air Force. The Israeli Air Force retaliates by striking Arab troops near Samakh.

June 1 - BEA commences the first helicopter airmail service in the UK
June 8 - Air India commences a regular Bombay-London service by Lockheed Constellation.
July 17 - Catalina seaplane "Miss Macao" (VR-HDT), operated by a Cathay Pacific subsidiary, with 23 passengers and 3 crew on board flying from Macau to Hong Kong was hijacked mid-way over the Pearl River Delta by a group of 4 hijackers attempting to rob the passengers on board. The pilot was attacked and the aircraft lost control during the ensuing struggle in the cockpit. The subsequent crash killed all on board except one passenger, who was later identified to be the lead hijacker. This is the first known case of airliner hijack.
June 17 - United Airlines Flight 624 DC-6 (NC37506) crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania.
June 26 - the Berlin Airlift begins, with USAF, Royal Air Force, and British civil transport aircraft carrying supplies into West Berlin
June 28 - Sdn Ldr Basil Arkel sets a new helicopter speed record of 124 mph (200 km/h) in a Fairey Gyrodyne.

July 6 - the US Navy's first two carrier-based AEW squadrons are formed, VAW-1 and VAW-2.
July 14 - Vampire F3s of No. 54 Squadron RAF became the first jet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The six aircraft, commanded by Wg Cdr D S Wilson-MacDonald, DSO, DFC, go via Stornoway, Iceland and Labrador to Montreal on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the US where they gave several formation aerobatic displays.
July 14 - Silver City Airways makes the first car-carrying flight between England and France.

September 5 - a US Navy Martin JRM Mars sets a new cargo record of 62,262 lb (28,242 kg)
September 6 - a de Havilland DH.108 breaks the sound barrier, the first British aircraft to do so.