January 1 – Prompted by the increase in air traffic over
Europe, a regulation goes into effect in the
United Kingdom requiring the installation of
wireless telegraphy equipment aboard any aircraft capable of carrying 10 or more people including crew and that such aircraft carry a special operator for the equipment. The use of
radio telephony is limited to aircraft carrying five to nine people including crew.[4]
February 16 – After stops at
Villa Cisneros in
Spanish Sahara and
Bolama in
Portuguese Guinea, Pinedo, Del Prete, and Zacchetti attempt to take off from Bolama to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil. Sweltering conditions prevent their plane from becoming airborne until they dump a large quantity of
gasoline, forcing them to fly to the
Cape Verde Islands instead, where cooler conditions prevail.[5]
February 23 – Pinedo, Del Prete, and Zacchetti cross the Atlantic, flying from the Cape Verde Islands to
Fernando de Noronha, where the
Brazilian Navyprotected cruiserAlmirante Barroso meets them and tows their flying boat into port. The next day, they fly to
Natal, Brazil, to begin the South American phase of their "Four Continents" flight.[5]
March 16 – After stops at various cities in
South America including
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina,
Montevideo,
Uruguay, and
Asunción,
Paraguay, the Italian aviators
Francesco de Pinedo and
Carlo Del Prete and their mechanic Vitale Zacchetti continue their "Four Continents" flight by beginning a long leg over the dense jungle of Brazil's
Mato Grosso region. At one point, their
Savoia-Marchetti S.55flying boatSanta Maria is towed by a Brazilian river boat for 200 miles (320 kilometers) along the
Paraguay River in search of a suitable takeoff area after a refueling stop, and it takes them until March 20 to complete their crossing of the Matto Grosso and land at
Manaós, Brazil. It is history's first flight over the Mato Grosso.[5]
April 1 – Waldemar Roeder achieves a new world distance record for an aircraft with a 2,000-kilogram (4,410-pound) payload, flying 1,013.18 kilometers (629.56 miles) in 7 hours 52 minutes in a
Junkers G 24L.[11]
April 4 – Fritz Horn achieves a new world distance record for an aircraft with a 1,000-kilogram (2,205-pound) payload, flying 2,026.36 kilometers (1,259.12 miles) in 14 hours 23 minutes in a Junkers G 24L.[11]
April 10 – In a single flight in a Junkers G 24L, Hermann Roeder achieves two new world speed records for an aircraft with a 2,000-kilogram (4,410-pound) payload, averaging 175.75 km/h (109.21 mph) over a distance of 500 kilometers (310 mph) and 179.24 km/h (111.37 mph) over a distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles).[11]
April 16 – The
Portuguese Military Aviation seaplane Argos, piloted by
Sarmento de Beires and accompanied by Duvalle Portugal (co-pilot), Jorge de Castilho (navigator) and Manuel Gouveia (mechanic), makes the first night aerial crossing of the
South Atlantic which was the first complete night-time flight of the Atlantic, taking off from
Portuguese Guinea and landing in
Brazil, where they arrived after totaling 2,595 kilometers on an 18-hour, 12-minute flight.
May 1 – Imperial Airways introduces its luxury "Silver Wing" service between
London and
Paris.
May 2 – 30,000 people are on hand for the arrival in
Belgrade of Yugoslavian
aeronautical engineerTadija Sondermajer and pilot Leonid Bajdak as they complete a 14-stage, 11-day, 14,800-kilometer (9,200-mile) flight from
Paris to
Bombay to Belgrade. Departing Paris on 20 April, they have followed the route Paris-Belgrade-
Aleppo-
Basra-
Jask-
Karachi-Bombay-Karachi-Jask-Basra-Aleppo-Belgrade. They make the flight to spur interest in investment in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia′s first civilian airline,
Aeroput. Investment in Aeroput increases greatly, saving the new airline from abolition due a lack of capital.[citation needed]
May 4 –
United States Army Air CorpsCaptainHawthorne C. Gray sets an unofficial record for the highest altitude reached by a human being, attaining 42,470 feet (12,940 meters) in a balloon with an open basket over
Belleville,
Illinois. Because of the rapid descent of the balloon, he parachutes out at 8,000 feet (2,400 meters), disqualifying him from recognition for an official record by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which requires that a balloonist land with his craft in order to set an official record.[7][8][9]
May 20 – The
Dominion of Newfoundland Post Office issues history's first postage stamp honoring an individual aviator. It honors Francesco de Pinedo.[14]
May 22–23 – Pinedo, Del Prete, and Zacchetti depart
Trepassey Bay in the
Dominion of Newfoundland, planning to cross the
Atlantic Ocean to the
Azores, refuel, and then fly on to
Portugal, retracing the
transatlantic flight route of the
United States NavyCurtiss NC-4 flying boat in
1919, but they run low on fuel due to unfavorable weather. Pinedo is forced to land the Santa Maria II on the ocean and be taken under tow by a Portuguese fishing boat and an Italian
steamer for the final 200 miles (320 km) to the Azores, where the plane arrives at
Horta on May 30.[5][15]
May 28 – While flying at 1,200 feet (370 meters) near
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, the
United States Army Air Service's
Keystone XLB-5 bomber prototype suffers a failure of its right engine in which a blade separates from the propeller hub with explosive power, tearing the engine apart and spraying the five-man crew – which includes
2nd Bombardment Group commander
Lewis H. Brereton – with shrapnel. The
nose gunner is killed, but the other four men aboard parachute to safety. The
gasoline-soaked wreckage of the aircraft explodes and burns on the ground.
June
June 1 – In a flight between turning points at
Dessau and
Leipzig,
Germany, Wilhelm Zimmermann, flying a
Junkers G 24L, achieves a new world speed record for an aircraft with a 2,000-kilogram (4,410-pound) payload over a distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles), averaging 207.26 km/h (128.79 mph).[11]
Wilhelm Zimmermann, flying a Junkers G 24L, achieves a new world speed record for an aircraft with a 1,000-kilogram (2,205-pound) payload, reaching 209.115 km/h (129.938 mph).[11]
The Spanish airline
Iberia is incorporated. It will begin flight operations in
December.
The
Air League Challenge Cup race takes place for the first time since
1924, returning as an annual event. Flown in
England, the race includes participants who are not
Royal Air Force pilots for the first time. The 116-mile (187-kilometer) course takes competitors from
Castle Bromwich to
Woodford and back again. Civilian pilot Norman H. Jones wins in an
ANEC II (registration G-EBJO) at an average speed of 73.5 miles per hour (118.3 km/h).[19][20]
Ernie Smith and
Emory Bronte complete the first civilian non-stop flight from North America to the Hawaiian Islands when their
Travel Airmonoplane, the City of Oakland, crashes on
Molokai after a flight from
Oakland,
California. They survive the crash.[10]
August 4 – A
Junkers G 24 belonging to Severa takes off from
Norderney,
Germany, bound for the
Azores on its way to the
Western Hemisphere in a quest to make the first east-to-west crossing of the
Atlantic Ocean by a heavier-than-air aircraft. The attempt ends when the G 24 crashes in the Azores.
August 6 – In a single flight, a
Junkers K 30 sets three world records for
seaplanes over a distance of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) with a payload of 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds), averaging a record speed of 171 km/h (106 mph), remaining airborne for a record 10 hours 42 minutes 45 seconds, and flying a record distance of 1,176 kilometers (731 miles).
August 16 – The
Dole Derby, a California-to-Hawaii race for single-engine airplanes sponsored by
James Dole, takes place. Two aircraft arrive safely at
Wheeler Field on
Oahu, but three other entrants carrying seven persons are missing at sea. The tragedy puts an end to all plans to fly single-engine land aircraft from North America to Hawaii until 1934.[10]
August 27:
Paul Redfern attempts to fly from Georgia to Rio de Janeiro but fails before making it the entire way
September
September 1 – The first commercial aviation flight started off in
Concord, CA flying in a
Boeing 40-B2 and landing in New York 32 hours later. Two passengers with mail and other cargo were the first coast to coast commercial passenger flight.[22]
October 14–15 – Dieudonne Costes and Joseph Le Brix make the first non-stop aerial crossing of the
South Atlantic Ocean, flying the Breguet 19 G.R. Nungesser-Coli from
Saint-Louis,
Senegal to
Port Natal,
Brazil, as a part of their round-the-world trip.
Flying in a balloon with an open basket in an attempt to set an official world altitude record for human flight – his altitude records of
March and
May having been unofficial –
United States Army Air CorpsCaptainHawthorne C. Gray dies of
hypoxia after his balloon reaches 40,000 feet (12,000 meters). His body is found in his balloon basket in a tree near
Sparta,
Tennessee, the next day. His balloon's
barograph indicates that the balloon reached between 43,000 and 44,000 feet (13,000 and 13,000 meters) before descending.[7][8][9][27] No further high-altitude balloon fights in open baskets will be attempted until the
United States Air Force begins
Project Manhigh in
1955.[28]
November 21 – During an
air show at
Santa Monica,
California, parachutist Jean West's
parachute becomes entangled on the
wing of the plane she jumped from. The pilot manages to land the plane safely, dragging West for several hundred feet, but she nonetheless escapes the incident uninjured.[29]
December
December 14
The Spanish airline
Iberia begins flight operations.
^Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,
ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 124.
^Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-076-2, pp. 123-124.
^Murray, Williamson, Strategy for Defeat: The Luftwaffe 1933-1945, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 1983, no ISBN, p. 4.
^Gunston, Bill (1995). The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995. London: Osprey.
ISBN1-85532-405-9., pp. 286-287.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978,
ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 92.
^Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976,
ISBN0-370-10054-9, p. 426.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,
ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 138.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 75.
^Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976,
ISBN0-370-10054-9, p. 415.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,
ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 193.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 74.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,
ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 139. (Typographical error states that first fliguthg was 11/1928, but that was ten months after first delivery of the aircraft.)
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,
ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 432.
^Polar, Norman, "'There's a Ford in Your Future'," Naval History, December 2015, p. 14.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,
ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 127.