List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1935–1939): Difference between revisions

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*16 April - Flying Officer Clive Newton Edgerton takes off from [[Laverton, Victoria|Laverton]] in [[RAAF]] [[Westland Wapiti]], ''A5-31'', but after entering a steep dive from 15,000 feet is unable to recover. "The structure of the aircraft failed during the test flight and the aircraft crashed at [[Werribee, Victoria|Werribee]]." Witnesses reported that the wings failed and folded back along the fuselage. The lower starboard wing landed in a paddock 1½ miles from the fuselage. The [[Air Accidents Investigation Branch|Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee]] (AAIC) reported that "The tailplane actuating gear was in full forward position...the aircraft had five ballast weights in the tail...when there should have been six, and in addition another four in the passenger's cockpit, so that the aircraft was obviously tail light and nose heavy. Apparently the pilot had his tail actuating gear into the full forward, giving maximum lift to the tail to enable him to go into a dive." The speed of Edgerton's dive was so great that the blades of the airscrew were pulled from the boss by the centrifugal force.<ref>Owers, Colin A., "Jack-Of-All-Trades: Westland Wapitis in Australian Service", ''Air Enthusiast'', Stamford, Lincs., UK, Number 119, September-October 2005, p. 27.</ref>
*16 April - Flying Officer Clive Newton Edgerton takes off from [[Laverton, Victoria|Laverton]] in [[RAAF]] [[Westland Wapiti]], ''A5-31'', but after entering a steep dive from 15,000 feet is unable to recover. "The structure of the aircraft failed during the test flight and the aircraft crashed at [[Werribee, Victoria|Werribee]]." Witnesses reported that the wings failed and folded back along the fuselage. The lower starboard wing landed in a paddock 1½ miles from the fuselage. The [[Air Accidents Investigation Branch|Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee]] (AAIC) reported that "The tailplane actuating gear was in full forward position...the aircraft had five ballast weights in the tail...when there should have been six, and in addition another four in the passenger's cockpit, so that the aircraft was obviously tail light and nose heavy. Apparently the pilot had his tail actuating gear into the full forward, giving maximum lift to the tail to enable him to go into a dive." The speed of Edgerton's dive was so great that the blades of the airscrew were pulled from the boss by the centrifugal force.<ref>Owers, Colin A., "Jack-Of-All-Trades: Westland Wapitis in Australian Service", ''Air Enthusiast'', Stamford, Lincs., UK, Number 119, September-October 2005, p. 27.</ref>
*17 May - Second of three [[Grumman]] [[Grumman F3F|XF3F-1]] prototypes, BuNo ''9727'' (2nd), crashes on the first day it arrives at [[NAS Anacostia]]. Pilot Lee Gelbach is unable to recover from a flat spin which develops during a ten-turn right-hand spin demonstration - bails out safely.<ref name="Editors 1976, p. 128"/> A third [[Grumman F3F|XF3F-1]] prototype will be built, using some parts salvaged from second prototype, also with BuNo ''9727'' (3rd), but pilot Bill McAvoy will be luckier than his two fellow test pilots, and NOT have to evacuate the Flying Barrel during testing.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Boyne, Walt 1974, p. 52"/>
*17 May - Second of three [[Grumman]] [[Grumman F3F|XF3F-1]] prototypes, BuNo ''9727'' (2nd), crashes on the first day it arrives at [[NAS Anacostia]]. Pilot Lee Gelbach is unable to recover from a flat spin which develops during a ten-turn right-hand spin demonstration - bails out safely.<ref name="Editors 1976, p. 128"/> A third [[Grumman F3F|XF3F-1]] prototype will be built, using some parts salvaged from second prototype, also with BuNo ''9727'' (3rd), but pilot Bill McAvoy will be luckier than his two fellow test pilots, and NOT have to evacuate the Flying Barrel during testing.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Boyne, Walt 1974, p. 52"/>
*18 May - The [Tupolev ANT-20]], ''Maxim Gorky'', the largest aircraft ever built to that time, flown by ([[aviator|pilots]] [[I.V.Mikheyev]] and [[I.S.Zhurov]]) and three more planes ([[Tupolev ANT-14]], [[Polikarpov R-5]] and [[Polikarpov I-5]]) take off for a demonstration flight over [[Moscow]]. As a result of a poorly executed loop maneuver (a third such stunt on this flight) around the plane performed by an accompanying I-5 [[Fighter aircraft|fighter]], flown by [[Nikolai Blagin]]), both planes collide and the ''Maxim Gorky'' crashes into a low-rise residential neighborhood west of present-day [[Sokol (Metro)|Sokol station]]. Forty-five people are killed in the crash, including crew members and 33 family members of some of those who had built the aircraft. (While authorities announced that the fatal maneuver was impromptu and reckless, it has been recently suggested that it might have been a planned part of the show.) Also killed was the fighter pilot, Blagin, who was made a scapegoat in the crash and subsequently had his name used eponymously (''Blaginism'') to mean, roughly, a "cocky disregard of authority." However, Blagin was given a state funeral at [[Novodevichy Cemetery]] together with ANT-20 victims.
*20 June - [[Douglas Y1O-35]], ''32-319'', c/n 1119, of the 88th Observation Squadron, suffers loss of power on right engine during takeoff from [[Griffith Park]], [[Los Angeles, California]] for flight to [[Rockwell Field]], [[San Diego, California]], at ~1000 hrs. Pilot, Cadet Tracy R. Walsh, manages to hop over soldiers breaking camp alongside runway but does not have sufficient [[airspeed|flying speed]]. Airplane crashes through a tent, a fence, and into an automobile, demolishing itself, the vehicle, and killing three civilians in the car. Three crew on plane unhurt. O-35 surveyed and dropped from records at [[March Field]], 15 October 1935.<ref>Pelletier, Alain J., "Bombers As Postmen", ''Air Enthusiast'' No.122, Stamford, Lincs., UK, March/April 2006, pp.38-40.</ref>
*20 June - [[Douglas Y1O-35]], ''32-319'', c/n 1119, of the 88th Observation Squadron, suffers loss of power on right engine during takeoff from [[Griffith Park]], [[Los Angeles, California]] for flight to [[Rockwell Field]], [[San Diego, California]], at ~1000 hrs. Pilot, Cadet Tracy R. Walsh, manages to hop over soldiers breaking camp alongside runway but does not have sufficient [[airspeed|flying speed]]. Airplane crashes through a tent, a fence, and into an automobile, demolishing itself, the vehicle, and killing three civilians in the car. Three crew on plane unhurt. O-35 surveyed and dropped from records at [[March Field]], 15 October 1935.<ref>Pelletier, Alain J., "Bombers As Postmen", ''Air Enthusiast'' No.122, Stamford, Lincs., UK, March/April 2006, pp.38-40.</ref>
*Circa July - Within three weeks of arriving at the ''Erprobungstelle'' at [[Rechlin]], Germany for testing, both the [[Henschel Hs 123]]V1 and V2 (''D-ILUA'') prototype dive bombers crash after failing to pull out of terminal velocity dives when wing centre-sections fail, both pilots killed.<ref name="Green">Green, William, "The Warplanes of the Third Reich", Galahad Books, New York, 1986, Library of Congress card number 86-80568, ISBN 88365-666-3, p. 378.</ref><ref>Woodman, Harry, "Angelito", ''Airpower'', Granada Hills, California, September 1972, Volume 2, Number 5, pp.44-46.</ref>
*Circa July - Within three weeks of arriving at the ''Erprobungstelle'' at [[Rechlin]], Germany for testing, both the [[Henschel Hs 123]]V1 and V2 (''D-ILUA'') prototype dive bombers crash after failing to pull out of terminal velocity dives when wing centre-sections fail, both pilots killed.<ref name="Green">Green, William, "The Warplanes of the Third Reich", Galahad Books, New York, 1986, Library of Congress card number 86-80568, ISBN 88365-666-3, p. 378.</ref><ref>Woodman, Harry, "Angelito", ''Airpower'', Granada Hills, California, September 1972, Volume 2, Number 5, pp.44-46.</ref>

Revision as of 20:58, 13 October 2010

1935

  • 12 February - The US Navy's last rigid airship, the USS Macon, loses its upper fin off Point Sur, California, sinks to the surface of the Pacific Ocean in a controlled crash, and is lost, although the inclusion of lifevests on board allows the saving of 81 of 83 crew. It takes with it the four Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawks, BuNos. A-9058/9061 carried aboard for fleet scouting. The airship's remains lie unfound until 1990 when a fisherman brings up a girder. Wreck is subsequently found by manned Navy submersible Sea Cliff.[1][2]
F9C Sparrowhawk BuNo 9058 in flight over Moffett Field, California in 1934. This aircraft was lost with the USS Macon. Pilot in this photo is Lt. Harold B. Miller, commander of the Heavier-Than-Air Unit.[3]
  • 22 March - Prototype Grumman XF3F-1, BuNo 9727 (1st), c/n 257, company model G.11, disintegrates when pulled sharply out of a terminal velocity dive, the tenth and final such test in six flights, killing pilot Jimmy Collins. G-forces in this dive estimated at 12-13, wrenching wings off, engine torn from mount.[4] 9727 serial applied to three Grumman prototypes, two of which crashed.[2][5]
  • April - Yugoslavian Air Force Ikarus IK-1, high-wing monoplane fighter, first prototype crashes on third flight at Zemun airfield when it fails to recover from power dive, pilot Capt. Leonid Bajdak, parachuting to safety. Examination of wreck revealed that fabric covering of the port wing had failed due to negligence in sewing the seams. Second prototype ordered as IK-2, wings metal-skinned.[6]
  • 16 April - Flying Officer Clive Newton Edgerton takes off from Laverton in RAAF Westland Wapiti, A5-31, but after entering a steep dive from 15,000 feet is unable to recover. "The structure of the aircraft failed during the test flight and the aircraft crashed at Werribee." Witnesses reported that the wings failed and folded back along the fuselage. The lower starboard wing landed in a paddock 1½ miles from the fuselage. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC) reported that "The tailplane actuating gear was in full forward position...the aircraft had five ballast weights in the tail...when there should have been six, and in addition another four in the passenger's cockpit, so that the aircraft was obviously tail light and nose heavy. Apparently the pilot had his tail actuating gear into the full forward, giving maximum lift to the tail to enable him to go into a dive." The speed of Edgerton's dive was so great that the blades of the airscrew were pulled from the boss by the centrifugal force.[7]
  • 17 May - Second of three Grumman XF3F-1 prototypes, BuNo 9727 (2nd), crashes on the first day it arrives at NAS Anacostia. Pilot Lee Gelbach is unable to recover from a flat spin which develops during a ten-turn right-hand spin demonstration - bails out safely.[4] A third XF3F-1 prototype will be built, using some parts salvaged from second prototype, also with BuNo 9727 (3rd), but pilot Bill McAvoy will be luckier than his two fellow test pilots, and NOT have to evacuate the Flying Barrel during testing.[2][5]
  • 18 May - The [Tupolev ANT-20]], Maxim Gorky, the largest aircraft ever built to that time, flown by (pilots I.V.Mikheyev and I.S.Zhurov) and three more planes (Tupolev ANT-14, Polikarpov R-5 and Polikarpov I-5) take off for a demonstration flight over Moscow. As a result of a poorly executed loop maneuver (a third such stunt on this flight) around the plane performed by an accompanying I-5 fighter, flown by Nikolai Blagin), both planes collide and the Maxim Gorky crashes into a low-rise residential neighborhood west of present-day Sokol station. Forty-five people are killed in the crash, including crew members and 33 family members of some of those who had built the aircraft. (While authorities announced that the fatal maneuver was impromptu and reckless, it has been recently suggested that it might have been a planned part of the show.) Also killed was the fighter pilot, Blagin, who was made a scapegoat in the crash and subsequently had his name used eponymously (Blaginism) to mean, roughly, a "cocky disregard of authority." However, Blagin was given a state funeral at Novodevichy Cemetery together with ANT-20 victims.
  • 20 June - Douglas Y1O-35, 32-319, c/n 1119, of the 88th Observation Squadron, suffers loss of power on right engine during takeoff from Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California for flight to Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, at ~1000 hrs. Pilot, Cadet Tracy R. Walsh, manages to hop over soldiers breaking camp alongside runway but does not have sufficient flying speed. Airplane crashes through a tent, a fence, and into an automobile, demolishing itself, the vehicle, and killing three civilians in the car. Three crew on plane unhurt. O-35 surveyed and dropped from records at March Field, 15 October 1935.[8]
  • Circa July - Within three weeks of arriving at the Erprobungstelle at Rechlin, Germany for testing, both the Henschel Hs 123V1 and V2 (D-ILUA) prototype dive bombers crash after failing to pull out of terminal velocity dives when wing centre-sections fail, both pilots killed.[9][10]
Crashed Model 299 at Wright Field, Ohio.

1936

  • 24 January - Prototype Junkers Ju 87 V1, Wrke Nr. 4921, fitted with a pair of vertical fins, suffers tail section oscillation during medium-angle test dive, loses starboard fin during attempted recovery, goes into inverted spin, crashes at Dessau, Germany. All subsequent Ju 87s have single fin tail unit.[9] Pilot Willy Neuenhofen and his observer are killed.[16]
  • 2 March - During spin testing, the Heinkel He 112 V2 prototype crashes.
  • 25 May - Maj. Hezekiah ("Hez") McClellan, (1894–1936), was killed while flight-testing Consolidated TPB-2A, 35-1, which crashed near Centerville, Ohio. Posthumously awarded the DFC, McClellan prepared early charts and records while pioneering Alaskan air routes. Sacramento Air Depot renamed McClellan Field on 1 December 1939.[13]
  • 3 June - In a crash that closely parallels the loss of the Boeing 299, General Walther Wever, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe, is killed at Dresden, Germany on take-off in a Heinkel He 70 when he fails to activate a lever in the cockpit that unlocks the control services. Wever, a supporter of four-engine long-range bomber design, had been developing a strategic bombing capability for the Luftwaffe, but following his death, Hermann Goering cancels these projects and the German Air Force never fields a viable strategic bomber.[17]
  • 17 July - French Bloch 150.01 fighter prototype suffers damage to tailwheel as it taxies from the hangar at Villacoublay to inaugurate its flight test program. Returned to the factory at Courbevoie for repairs which, inexplicably, take ten months to accomplish. Poor ground handling of design, as well as unsuitability for mass-production, forces total reworking of the type, the new version being designated the Bloch 151, and developmentally, the Bloch 152.[18]
  • 21 July - Northrop XFT-2, BuNo 9400, (XFT-1 modified with engine change and smaller fuel capacity), to NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C. in April 1936 for tests. Finding the design to be non-airworthy, the Navy orders that it be returned to Northrop. Ignoring instructions to ship it to Northrop's El Segundo factory, a test pilot attempts to fly the XFT-2 back to California, the aircraft entering a spin and crashing while crossing the Allegheny Mountains this date.[19] Contract closed out in November 1936.[20] Joe Baugher cites crash date of July 1937.
  • 20 August - Prototype Vought XSB2U-1 Vindicator, BuNo 9725, accepted by the U.S. Navy on 2 July 1936, crashes this date.[21]
  • October - Adolf Galland is seriously injured in his second crash in a year, this time in an Arado Ar 68, ultimately losing all vision in his left eye, but returns to flying after memorizing the eye chart.[12]
  • 7 November - Polish Lotnictwo Wojskowe PZL.30 Żubr ("Bison") prototype, a hideously ugly twin-engine bomber design modified from a transport rejected in favour of Douglas DC-2s by LOT, the Polish airline, disintegrates in mid-air when wing structure fails. First flown in March 1936, the uninspired composite design of metal, wood and fabric was the first twin-engined bomber of home design to leave the ground, powered by 680 hp (510 kW) P.Z.L. (Bristol) Pegasus radials, but only 16 Żubrs were completed, most relegated to training, none seeing combat.[22] The Romanian Air Force had shown an interest in the Żubr prototype in 1936, and wanted to buy 24 planes. However, after the prototype crash over Michałowice with two Romanian officers onboard, they ordered the PZL.37 Łoś instead. (It should be noted, that the factory published a cover-up story, that the crash was caused by one of Romanians opening the door during flight).
  • 7 December - First Y1B-17, 36-149, c/n 1973, first flown 2 December, makes rough landing at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, on third flight, when Army pilot Stanley Umstead touches down with locked brakes, airframe ends up on nose after short skid. Repaired, Flying Fortress departs for Wright Field on 11 January 1937.[23]
  • Post-21 December - Prototype Junker Ju 88V1, D-AQEN, first flown at Dessau, Germany on 21 December 1936, crashes after only a few test flights, but is ordered into production.[24]

1937

  • January 1 - Lt. Col. Fredrick Irving Eglin (1891–1937), first rated as a military aviator in 1917 and helped train other flyers during World War I, is killed while assigned to General Headquarters, Air Force, Langley Field, Virginia, in the crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft, 35-97, at Chesa Mountain, Alabama in bad weather during flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama. The Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base renamed Eglin Field 4 August 1937, later Eglin Air Force Base on 24 June 1948.[13]
  • May 19 - Prototype Sud-Est LeO H-47 flying boat sustains fatigue failure damage to hull bottom on take-off and, upon landing at Antibes at 19,000 kg (42,000 lb), took in water that displaced the centre of gravity, sinking the aircraft.[25]
  • Early July - Blohm & Voss Ha 137 V6 dive bomber, D-IDTE, destroyed in crash. No production contract awarded for the type.[9]
  • 23 July-1 August - During the International Flying Meet at Zürich, German ace Ernst Udet crash lands Bf 109V10, D-ISLU, a Bf 109B equipped with early production 950 hp (710 kW) Daimler Benz Db.600 engine, when it suffers power loss during Alps circuit race. Udet attempts to land, walks away from wrecked airframe.[26]
  • 18 August - Col. William Caldwell McChord, (1881–1937), rated a junior military aviator in 1918, was killed while trying to force-land his Northrop A-17, 35-105, near Maidens, Virginia. At the time of his death, he was Chief of the Training and Operations Division in HQ Army Air Corps. Tacoma Field, Washington, was renamed McChord Field, 17 December 1937.[13]
  • 19 September - Junkers EF 61 V1, first prototype of pressurized bomber, suffered control surface flutter, crashed at Dessau, Germany, killing both crew.[9]
  • 24 October - During engine start at an airfield on Saishuto Island (now Cheju Do) off of the southern coast of South Korea, a Hirosho G2H1 Navy Type 95 attack aircraft catches fire and soon explodes. Fire spreads to other G2Hs, armed with bombs, destroying four and damaging a fifth. Only eight G2H1s were built, six by Hirosho and two by Mitsubishi, the Imperial Japanese Navy deciding to standardize on the slightly smaller Mitsubishi G3M Navy Type 96 twin-engined land-based bomber, Allied codename "Nell".[27]
  • December - Having set a speed record of 504.988 km/h (313.78 mph) on 22 November 1937, only to have it eclipsed one week later by the Italian Breda Ba 88 at 525.1 km/h (326.3 mph), the Heinkel He 119 V4, D-AUTE, attempts a second run from Hamburg for an out-and-back trip to Stolp (now known as Słupsk). After reaching Stolp at an average speed of just under 595 km/h (370 mph), with a new record apparently in reach, the engine begins to misfire just after course reversal and the fuel gauges fall to zero. Crew feathers propeller and glides to forced landing at Travemünde airfield, but belatedly sees ditches dug across landing area for routine maintenance. Having committed to their approach, they can do nothing, and shear off the undercarriage on the ditches, airframe coming to rest alongside a pumping station with starboard wing torn off by the structure, pilot Gerhard Nitschke seriously injured, co-pilot Hans Dieterle less so. Cause was faulty fuel transfer switch. Following the first record run, Germany described aircraft as an "He 111U" bomber for propaganda purposes, and as the "He 606" to the FAI, an obfuscation that only becomes clear to the Allies after World War II.[28]
  • December - Junkers EF 61 V2, second prototype of pressurized bomber, crashes at Dessau, Germany, before high-altitude trials can be conducted. Program is abandoned.[9]
  • 11 December - Consolidated PB-2A, 35-50, crashes at Langley Field, Virginia, killing Army Air Corps Major Alfred J. Waller, a distinguished World War I combat pilot. Waller Army Airfield, activated in Trinidad on 1 September 1941, (later Waller Air Force Base), is named in his honor.

1938

  • 6 February - Junkers Ju 90 V1, D-AALU, "Der Grosse Dessauer", combination of wings, engines, undercarriage and tail assembly of Junkers Ju 89 V3, Werknummer 4913, mated to a new transport fuselage, broke up in flight while undergoing flutter tests out of Dessau, Germany.[9]
  • April - Prototype of the Belgian Renard R-35, one of the first pressurized transports in the world, designed by Albert Renard, crashes on its first take-off, killing Renard chief test pilot George Van Damme.[29]
  • 4 April - Les Ateliers de Constructions Aéronautiques Belges LACAB GR.8, dubbed unofficially the Doryphore by its pilots, "a singularly ugly multi-rôle combat aircraft intended for long-range bombing, and reconnaissance missions, and also as a heavy fighter", crashes during landing, writing off the undercarriage, both starboard wings, and suffering damage to the aft fuselage. The two-bay unequal-span staggered biplane of mixed construction, powered by two Gnôme-Rhône 14Kdrs radial engines, had first flown 14 May 1936, and was taken over by Belgium's Aéronautique Militaire on 2 June 1936 for testing and evaluation. Surprisingly, SABCA was contracted to repair the airframe, although no further testing appears to have been done. The airframe was found in a hangar at Evere in May 1940 by German troops who subsequently scrapped it.[30]
  • 14 May - First prototype Focke Wulf Fw 187 V1, D-AANA, crashes at Bremen, Germany, when test pilot Paul Bauer, having completed test series, makes high-speed run across airfield, pulls up too sharply, stalls, spins in next to the control tower.[9]
  • 28 May - The Bristol 146 was built by Bristol to an Air Ministry order for a prototype single-seat eight-gun fighter meeting Air Ministry specification F.5/34 issued in 1934. The specification further called for an air-cooled engine for overseas use. The Type 146, K5119, incorporated the experience of metal-skinned monoplanes that Bristol had gained with the earlier Type 133, but was quite different in detail. Delivered to Martlesham in April 1938, it came close to meeting the specified requirements, but was not ordered into production. On this date, following an Empire Air Day display at Filton Aerodrome, the sole Type 146, while taxiing, struck a "set-piece" display and was damaged beyond economic repair. It was the last single-engined fighter to be built by Bristol.[31]
  • 24 July - In the airfield Mars in Santa Ana, Usaquén, Colombia, during an airshow, a F11C Goshawk crashed into the audience and killed 75 people.
  • 21 September - USAAC Chief Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover is killed in crash of Northrop A-17AS, 36-349, c/n 289, '1', out of Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., in a crosswind short of the runway at Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California, now known as Bob Hope Airport. The single-engined attack design used as a high-speed staff transport, crashed into a house at 1007 Scott Road in Burbank. Also KWF is his mechanic S/Sgt Samuel Hymes.[32] Another source identifies him as Sgt. Samuel Hyne.[33] Northeast Air Base, Massachusetts, renamed Westover Field on 1 December 1939, later Westover AFB on 13 January 1948.[13]
  • 22 September - RAF De Havilland DH. 93 Don, L2391, of the A&AEE, crashes while landing at RAF Martlesham Heath. An overheating engine cuts out on approach and aircraft overshoots, demolishing airframe.[34]
  • 5 October - Blohm & Voss BV 141 V3 asymmetric reconnaissance design, WNr 141-00-0359, D-OLGA, plagued with hydraulic problems, makes forced landing in ploughed field with mainwheel undercarriage legs only partly extended, suffers extensive damage to starboard wing.[9]
  • Circa 11 October - First prototype Dornier Do 217V1, first flown 4 October 1938, crashes one week into test programme during a single-engine test, killing both crew members,[35] pilot Rolf Koeppe, a flight commander at Rechlin, and Dornier mechanic, Eugen Bausenhart.[36]
  • 8 November - Col. Leslie MacDill, commissioned in the Coast Artillery in 1912, became a military pilot in 1914, and commanded an aerial gunnery school in St. Jean de Monte, France in World War I, is killed this date in the crash of his North American BC-1, 37-670, at Anacostia, D.C. after take-off from Bolling Field. Southeast Air Base, Tampa, Florida, is renamed MacDill Field on 1 December 1939.[13]
  • Post-November: First prototype Dewoitine D.520 fighter, tested from November 1938, is written off when pilot neglects to lower undercarriage.[37]
  • 8 December - Fourth prototype Arado Ar 196 V4, D-OVMB, the second Ar 196B, with a single main float and two outrigger floats, suffers failure of engine mounts during taxi testing at Travemünde for seaworthiness trials. Engine drops down towards centreline float, fire breaks out, crew of two with Helmut Schuster at the controls goes over the side to avoid flames. This test sealed the fate of the center float Ar 196.

1939

  • Bf 109V17, D-IWKU, prototype of the Bf 109E-3, crashes during test flight.[38]
  • 17 January - Prototype Belgian Renard R-36 fighter, OO-ARW, crashes near Nivelles, killing pilot Lt. Visconte Eric de Spoelberg. Official investigation is inconclusive, no evidence of material failure being discovered. Most probable causes are concluded to be either that radio equipment came loose during a high-G manoeuver, jamming the controls, or that the pilot became incapacitated. Development programme suspended after this accident. Airframe had accumulated 75:30 hours flight time.[39]
  • 19 January - Yugoslav Rogožarski IK-3 prototype, piloted by Capt. Milan Pokorni, fails to recover from terminal velocity dive out of Zemun airfield, destroying airframe. Subsequent investigation exonerates the design and production order for twelve placed.[40]
  • 23 January - Sole prototype Douglas 7B twin-engine attack bomber, designed and built as a company project, suffers loss of vertical fin and rudder during demonstration flight over Mines Field (now Los Angeles International Airport, California), flat spins into parking lot of North American Aviation, burns. Douglas test pilot Johnny Cable bails out at 300 feet, chute unfurls but does not have time to deploy, killed on impact, flight engineer John Parks rides airframe in and dies, but 33-year old French Air Force Capt. Paul Chemidlin, riding in aft fuselage near top turret, survives with broken leg, severe back injuries, slight concussion. Presence of Frenchman, a representative of foreign purchasing mission, causes furor in Congress by isolationists over neutrality and export laws. Type will be developed as Douglas DB-7.[41]
  • 11 February: After cross-country speed flight, Lockheed XP-38 Lightning prototype, 37-457, c/n 022-2201, crashlands on Cold Stream Golf Course on approach to Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York when engines fail due to icing. Pilot Ben Kelsey survives. Attempts by authorities to shield "secret" design from local photographers fail miserably.[42]
  • 11 April - The North American NA-40B, NX14221, is destroyed in a crash during USAAC testing at Wright Field, Ohio, when it loses one engine and spins into the ground. Crew escapes. The type is revised into the Model NA-62 and is ordered into production as the B-25 Mitchell.
  • 29 April - An attempted Great Circle Route long-distance flight by Red Air Force crew V. K. Kokkinaki, pilot, and Mikhail Gordienko, navigator/radio operator, from Tchelkovo Airport near Moscow to New York City, in Ilyushin TsKB-30 prototype twin-engined bomber, "Moskva", ends in crash-landing on Miscou Island off New Brunswick, Canada, after battling head winds and bad weather, as well as bitter cold, having achieved 4,970 miles in 22 hours, 56 minutes. Crew is uninjured in wheels-up landing, and receives hero's welcome in New York City.[43]
  • 14 May - Following first flight of the prototype Short S.29 Stirling four-engine bomber, L7600, out of Rochester, Kent, one of the brakes locks, causing it to slew off the runway and collapse the undercarriage, airframe damaged beyond repair.
  • 25 May - Sole Grumman XSBF-1, BuNo. 9996, (the XSF-2 airframe modified with a triangular frame beneath the engine mounting to carry one 500 lb (227 kg) or two 100 lb (45 kg) bombs, flown 18 February 1936), crash lands near Leonardtown, Maryland, killing one crew.[44]
  • 15 August - Thirteen Junkers Ju 87s of the Stukageschwader 76 crash during an demonstration on training area Neuhammer (now Świętoszów, Poland). All 26 crew members were killed.[45] The planes dived through cloud, expecting to release their practice bombs and pull out of the dive once below the cloud ceiling, unaware that on that particular day the ceiling was too low and unexpected ground mist formed, leaving them no time to pull out of the dive.
  • 1 September - Second prototype Saro S.36 Lerwick twin-engine flying boat, L7249, sinks at pierside mooring at Felixstowe, Suffolk, when, after flight test at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE), a hatch is left improperly secured; attempt by crew to save it fails as it had already shipped too much water - salvaged for static tests only.[46]
  • 4 September - Supermarine Type 300, F.37/34, the prototype Spitfire, K5054, is wrecked when Flt. Lt. "Spinner" White misjudges his landing approach at Farnborough, bouncing several times before fighter noses over onto its back. Pilot dies in hospital four days later. Spitfire is not repaired.[47]
  • 12 September - Polish LWS-3 Mewa, (reported in some sources as evacuated to Bulgaria at outbreak of war), crashed this date during evening landing near Przemyśl.[48]
  • 17 September - Polish LWS-3 Mewa destroyed near Stanisławów in the SE Poland due to fuel shortage.[48]
  • 25 September - Blackburn B-24 Skua crewed by Lt. Bruce Straton McEwan, RN, and Petty Officer B. M. Seymour of No. 803 Squadron, launched from HMS Ark Royal, becomes the first British fighter to down a German aircraft in World War II when they attack a Dornier Do 18 flying boat over the North Sea.[49]
  • Post 31 October - Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V2, first armed prototype, first flown 31 October, suffers crankshaft failure of BMW-139 engine after only 50 hours of test flying, crashes at Rechlin, Germany.
  • Circa 30 November - On second test flight of first Bell Aircraft Corporation YFM-1 Airacuda, 38-486, disaster narrowly avoided when supercharger turbine buckets on starboard engine disintegrate, throwing shrapnel through fuselage, resulting in considerable damage. Pilot shuts down engine and lands safely at Bell plant, Buffalo, New York, using only port powerplant.[50]
  • 10 December - Second production Sud-Est LeO H-470 flying boat written off when pilot alighted in error in shallow water on Lake Urbino, Corsica, airframe too badly damaged to permit repairs.[51]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Vaeth, J. Gordon, "They Sailed the Skies: U.S. Navy Balloons and the Airship Program", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2005, ISBN 1-59114-914-2, p. 101.
  2. ^ a b c http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/firstseries2.html
  3. ^ Larkins, William T., "U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941", Orion Books, New York, 1988, Library of Congress card no. 88-17753, ISBN 0-517-56920-5, p. 152.
  4. ^ a b Editors, "The Corpulent Long Islanders", Air International, Bromley, Kent, UK, March 1976, Volume 10, Number 3, p. 128.
  5. ^ a b Boyne, Walt, "Test Pilot", Airpower, Granada Hills, California, September 1974, Volume 4, Number 5, p. 52.
  6. ^ Green, William, "War Planes of the Second World War - Fighters, Volume Four", Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1961, pp.203-204.
  7. ^ Owers, Colin A., "Jack-Of-All-Trades: Westland Wapitis in Australian Service", Air Enthusiast, Stamford, Lincs., UK, Number 119, September-October 2005, p. 27.
  8. ^ Pelletier, Alain J., "Bombers As Postmen", Air Enthusiast No.122, Stamford, Lincs., UK, March/April 2006, pp.38-40.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, William, "The Warplanes of the Third Reich", Galahad Books, New York, 1986, Library of Congress card number 86-80568, ISBN 88365-666-3, p. 378. Cite error: The named reference "Green" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ Woodman, Harry, "Angelito", Airpower, Granada Hills, California, September 1972, Volume 2, Number 5, pp.44-46.
  11. ^ Stamford, Lincs., UK, "UK Roundels File", Air Enthusiast, Number 130, July-August 2007, p. 19
  12. ^ a b "Ww Ii Ace Stories" (in Template:Pl icon). Elknet.pl. Retrieved 2010-05-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  13. ^ a b c d e f Mueller, Robert, "Air Force Bases Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982", United States Air Force Historical Research Center, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1989, ISBN 0-912799-53-6, p. 237. Cite error: The named reference "Mueller" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ Bowers, Peter M., "Fortress In The Sky", Sentry Books, Granada Hills, California,1976, Library of Congress Card No. 76-17145, ISBN 0-913194-04-2, p. 37
  15. ^ Freeman, Roger, with Osborne, David, "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story: Design - Production - History", London, UK: Arms & Armour Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85409-301-0, p. 71.
  16. ^ Vanags-Baginskis, Alex, "Stuka Ju 87", "The Great Book of World War II Airplanes", Crescent Books, a division of Random House Value Publishing, New York, 1996, ISBN 0-517-16024-2, p. 528.
  17. ^ Copp, DeWitt S., "A Few Great Captains", The Air Force Historical Foundation, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1980, Library of Congress card number 78-22310, ISBN 0-385-13310-3, p. 370.
  18. ^ Leyvastre, Pierre, "Bloch's Fighters: the Contentious Combatants", Air International, Bromley, Kent, UK, April 1978, Volume 14, Number 4, pp.179-180.
  19. ^ Francillion, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London:Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-370-00050-1, p. 175.
  20. ^ Larkins, William T., "U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft 1914-1959", Orion Books, New York, 1988, Library of Congress card number 88-17753, ISBN 0-517-56920-5, p. 197.
  21. ^ Larkins, William T., "U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft 1914-1959", Orion Books, New York, 1988, Library of Congress card number 88-17753, ISBN 0-517-56920-5, p. 196.
  22. ^ Cynk, Jerzy, "Blitzkreig", Airpower, Granada Hills, California, July 1983, Volume 13, Number 4, pp.30-53.
  23. ^ Bowers, Peter M., "The Forgotten Fortresses", Wings, Granada Hills, California, August 1974, Volume4, Number 4, pp.22-23.
  24. ^ Baker, David, "Flight and Flying: A Chronology", Facts On File, Inc., New York, 1994, Library of Congress card number 92-31491, ISBN 0-8160-1854-5, p. 219.
  25. ^ Green, William, "War Planes of the Second World War - Flying Boats, Volume Five", Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1962, p. 47.
  26. ^ Nowarra, Heinz J., "The Messerschmitt 109: A Famous German Fighter", Harleyford Publications, Limited, Letchworth, Herts., England / Aero Publishers, Los Angeles, California, 1963, Library of Congress card number 63-14331, p. 21.
  27. ^ Mikesh, Robert C., and Abe, Shorzoe, "Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1990, ISBN 1-55750-563-2, p. 101.
  28. ^ Donald, David, "An Industry of Prototypes - Heinkel He 119", Wings of Fame, Aerospace Publishing Ltd., London, UK/AIRtime Publishing Inc., Westport, Connecticut, 1998, ISBN 1-86184-021-7 / 1-880588-23-4, pp.32-34.
  29. ^ de Wulf, Herman, "Renard's Neutrality Fighters", Air International, Bromley, Kent, UK, April 1977, Volume 12, Number 4, p. 188.
  30. ^ "Plane Facts", Air International, Bromley, Kent, UK, January 1977, Volume 12, Number 1, p. 46.
  31. ^ Mason, Francis K., "The British Fighter since 1912", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1992, Library of Congress card number 92-63026, ISBN 1-55750-082-7, pages 264-265.
  32. ^ Bowers, Peter M., "Captain of the Clouds", Airpower, Granada Hills, California, July 1972, Volume 2, Number 4, p. 33.
  33. ^ Matthews, Birch, "Cobra!: Bell Aircraft Corporation 1934-1946", Schiffer Publishing Limited, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 1996, Library of Congress card number 95-72357, ISBN 0-88740-911-3, p. 87.
  34. ^ Swanborough, Gordon, "Unfortunate Don - It All Went Quiet", Round-Out, AIR Enthusiast, Stamford, Lincs, UK, Number 106, July-August 2003, p. 65.
  35. ^ "Database", The Aeroplane, Number 431, London, UK, March 2009, Volume 37, Number 3, p. 56.
  36. ^ Dressel, Joachim and Griehl, Manfred. Bombers of the Luftwaffe. Arms and Armour, 1994. ISBN 1-85409-140-9, page 21.
  37. ^ Westell, Freeman, "The Great Aerial Con Game", Wings, Granada Hills, California, April 1995, Volume 25, Number 2, p. 45.
  38. ^ Nowarra, Heinz J., "The Messerschmitt 109: A Famous German Fighter", Harleyford Publications, Limited, Letchworth, Herts., England / Aero Publishers, Los Angeles, California, 1963, Library of Congress card number 63-14331, pp.38-39.
  39. ^ de Wulf, Herman, "Renard's Neutrality Fighters", Air International, Bromley, Kent, UK, April 1977, Volume 12, Number 4, p. 187.
  40. ^ Green, William, "War Planes of the Second World War - Fighters, Volume Four", Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1961, p. 205.
  41. ^ Matthews, Birch, "Cobra!: Bell Aircraft Corporation 1934-1946", Schiffer Publishing Limited, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 1996, Library of Congress card number 95-72357, ISBN 0-88740-911-3, pp.112-113.
  42. ^ Bodie, Warren M. "The Lockheed P-38 Lightning". Hayesville, North Carolina.: Widewing Publications, 1991, ISBN 0-9629359-5-6, pp.33-42.
  43. ^ Geiger, Geo John, "The Red Brigade Bombers", Airpower, Granada Hills, California, May 1983, Volume 13, Number 3, p. 47.
  44. ^ US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos-First Series (A6000 to 9999). Joebaugher.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-05.
  45. ^ Wheal, John, "Combat Aircraft Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader 1937-41", Osprey Puplishing, London, 1997, p. 15.
  46. ^ Bussy, Geoffrey, " 'Forgotten' Flying Boat: Saro's Unfortunate Lerwick", Air Enthusiast, Stamford, Lincs, UK, Number 124, July-August 2006, p. 22.
  47. ^ London, UK: Aeroplane, Price, Dr. Alfred, "The Birth of a Thoroughbred", March 2006, Volume 34, Number 3, No. 395, p. 53.
  48. ^ a b http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=102&t=66767&start=60
  49. ^ Mason, Francis K., "The British Fighter since 1912", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1992, Library of Congress card number 92-63026, ISBN 1-55750-082-7, p. 268.
  50. ^ Matthews, Birch, "Cobra!: Bell Aircraft Corporation 1934-1946", Schiffer Publishing Limited, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 1996, Library of Congress card number 95-72357, ISBN 0-88740-911-3, pp.101, 108.
  51. ^ Green, William, "War Planes of the Second World War - Flying Boats, Volume Five", Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1962, pp.47-48.
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