1924 in aviation

Events

Violating the Treaty of Versailles, Germany establishes a secret training base for German pilots at Lipetsk in the Soviet Union. More than 450 German personnel will train there over the next ten years.

Following a military revolt, Brazil abolishes Brazilian Army and Brazilian Navy contrrol of aviation and places all military aviation units under the direct control of the general staff.

The Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd. is founded at Tachikawa, Japan.

January

January 29 – Pateras Pesara flies an experimental helicopter in Paris. The machine flies 800 metres (2,640 ft) in just over 10 minutes.

February

February 20 – Three French Army officers make the first two-way aerial crossing of the Sahara Desert in a Breguet 14.

March

Huff Daland Dusters is established as the world's first crop dusting company in Georgia in the United States. It will eventually grow into Delta Air Service, then Delta Air Lines.

The admirals′ committee of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) considers an objection to the construction of aircraft carriers based on the observation that launching 40 planes from a carrier at present takes three hours, decides that the use of several carriers would solve the problem, and recommends that Italy construct at least two carriers.

March 25 – Squadron Leader Archibald Stuart Charles Stuart-MacLaren, Flying Officer William Noble Plenderleith, Sergeant W. H. Andrews of the Royal Air Force set off from Calshot in a Vickers Vulture II in an eastbound attempt to circumnavigate the world. Their attempt ultimately will fail on August 4 in the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea.

April

During the month, the International Commission for Aviation passes a resolution stating that "women shall be excluded from any employment in the operating crew of an aircraft engaged in public transport." A concern of the era is that women would have difficulty controlling an aircraft while menstruating.

April 1

Imperial Airways is formed, with the backing of the British government.

Flights of Royal Air Force aircraft operating from Royal Navy ships are given the collective title "Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force." This will later be shortened to "Fleet Air Arm."

The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.

April 6 – Four United States Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers depart Seattle, Washington, beginning a six-month westbound journey which will culminate in the first aerial circumnavigation of the world.

April 7 – Portuguese Commander Brito Pais and Captain Sarmento de Beires depart Lisbon eastbound in the Breguet 16.Bn2 Patria, beginning an attempt to fly around the world. They will crash Patria in India, but will continue in the de Havilland DH.9A Patria II before being forced to end their attempt in June in Macau.

April 24 – French Captain Georges Pelletier d'Oisy and Adjutant Lucien Besin depart Paris eastbound in a Breguet 19.A.2, beginning an attempt to fly around the world. They will be forced to end their attempt in May in Shanghai.

April 26 – Imperial Airways makes its first scheduled flight, from Croydon Aerodrome to Paris, using a de Havilland DH.34.

May

May 17 – During its first aerial circumnavigation of the world, the westbound United States Army Air Service flight of Douglas World Cruisers arrive in northern Japan, completing the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by airplane.

May 19 – The first aerial circumnavigation of Australia is carried out, by a Royal Australian Air Force crew in a Fairey IIID.

May 20 – French Captain Georges Pelletier d'Oisy and Adjutant Lucien Besin crash their Breguet 19.A.2 on a golf course in Shanghai, ending their attempt to fly around the world eastbound. They had covered 10,580 miles (17,037 km) in 26 days since leaving Paris.

June

Flying the Nieuport-Delage NiD 42S, the French pilot Joseph Sadi-Lecointe wins the Coupe Beaumont race as the only finisher, then continues flying to establish a new world speed-over-distance record over a distance of 500 km (310.69 miles), averaging 306.696 km/hr (190.572 mph).

Ludovic Arrachart wins the Michelin Cup long-distance flying competition.

June 23 – Lieutenant Russell Maughan makes the first one-day crossing of the United States, completing the flight from Long Island, New York, to San Francisco, California, in a Curtiss PW-8 in 21 hours 48 minutes.

June 24

In Macau, Portuguese Commander Brito Pais and Captain Sarmento de Beires give up on their eastbound attempt to circumnavigate the world in the de Havilland DH.9A Patria II after covering 11,000 miles (17,713 km) from Lisbon.

The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) has 1,181 aircraft, of which 748 are combat-ready.

June 25 – Westbound from Rangoon to Akyab, the United States Army Air Service flight of Douglas World Cruisers attempting the first aerial circumnavigation of the world unknowingly flies over the Vickers Vulture II amphibian of the Royal Air Force team of MacLaren, Plenderleith, and Andrews, which is sheltering in a coastal bay in Burma while eastbound from Akyab to Rangoon during its own attempt at a circumnavigation.

July

July 1 – Regular night airmail services commence in the United States, linking Chicago, Illinois, with Cheyenne, Wyoming.

July 10 – Japanese aircraft sink a ship for the first time, when Imperial Japanese Navy bombers use level bombing from an average height of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) over the course of four hours to sink the retired coast defense battleship Iwami off Yokosuka.

July 17 – French Captain Georges Pelletier d'Oisy completes a flight from Paris to Tokyo, using a Breguet 14 borrowed from the Republic of China government after the May crash of his Breguet 19.A.2 at Shanghai. The journey from Paris takes 120 hours in the air over 84 days.

August

The Bolivian Air Force is formed, as the Cuerpo de Aviación ("Aviation Corps").

The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) participates in the first large-scale Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) maneuvers since 1910. The air force aircraft are tasked to conduct surveillance in coastal waters, reconnoiter enemy bases, and strike enemy ships that come within range. The air force is hampered by poor communications with the navy, the grounding of its airships – necessary for reconnaissance at ranges of more than 100 miles (161 km) – due to weather, and difficulty in distinguishing between ship types and between friendly and enemy ships. In a final fiasco, the "Red" fleet "torpedoes" the "Blue" fleet′s flagship, the battleship Andrea Doria, as the "Blue" fleet enters port at Augusta, Sicily, at the end of the maneuvers after the "Blue" fleet′s air escort breaks formation to overfly the fleet in a celebratory pass.

August 4 – The attempt of the Royal Air Force team of MacLaren, Plenderleith, and Andrews to circumnavigate the world eastbound ends when they are forced down in the Bering Sea by fog and their Vickers Vulture amphibian is irreparably damaged. They taxi to safety at Bering Island in the Commander Islands. They had covered 13,100 miles (21,095 km) in 130 days.

August 8 – The U.S. Navy dirigible USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) docks with the airship tender USS Patoka (AO-9) while the Patoka is underway off Newport, Rhode Island, showing that airships could operate from support ships far out to sea.

August 24 – The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Richmond (CL-9) rescues the crew of an Italian flying boat that is forced down in the Arctic Ocean by bad weather.

August 31 – Six United States Army Air Service aviators flying Douglas World Cruisers arrive in Labrador, completing the transatlantic leg of their first aerial circumnavigation of the world.

September

September 3 – A United States Army Air Service pilot sets a speed record for a flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to New York City, completing the trip in 58 minutes.

September 11 – Canada's first regular airmail service begins, with Laurentide Air Services linking Haileybury, Ontario, with Rouyn, Quebec.

September 27-October 4 – The Daily Mail sponsors the Two-Seater Dual-Control Light Aeroplane Competition at Lympne Aerodrome in Lympne, England, the second of the three light airplane trials held there. Maurice Piercey wins in the Beardmore Wee Bee.

September 28 – Greeted by 50,000 people and a congratulatory telegram from President Calvin Coolidge, two of the original four United States Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers that had set out from Seattle, Washington, on April 6 arrive in Seattle, completing the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Their westbound journey had covered 27,534 miles (44,338 km) in 371 hours in the air, taking 175 days. They have made 57 hops during the trip, averaging 483 miles (778 km) per hop, and visited 25 U.S. states and 21 foreign countries.

October

October 1 – The fourth annual Air League Challenge Cup race takes place over a 100-mile (161-kilometer) triangular course beginning and ending at Lympne Airport in Lympne, Kent, England. Three flights, each consisting of three Sopwith Snipes flown by Royal Air Force pilots, participate; one flight represents No. 25 Squadron at RAF Hawkinge, another No. 32 Squadron at RAF Kenley, and the third No. 56 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill. Each flight flies the race in formation. No. 25 Squadron's flight finishes third with a time of 59 minutes 7.4 seconds, but is declared the winner when the other two flights are disqualified for cutting the western turning point and therefore failing to fly the entire course. The race is not held again until 1927.

October 9 – In the United Kingdom, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force is established.

October 12–15 – The Luftschiffbau Zeppelin-built dirigible LZ 126 is flown from Friederichshafen, Germany, nonstop to the Lakehurst, New Jersey, in the United States under guidance of Hugo Eckener for delivery to the U.S. Navy as a World War I war reparation. It is the longest nonstop airship flight in history at the time, covering 5,060 miles (8,148 km) in 81 hours and passing over the Azores, the Dominion of Newfoundland, and New York City along the way.

October 18 – Italian World War I ace and aviation pioneer Giovanni Ancillotto dies in an automobile accident in Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy.

November

Twenty-two of Brazil's 39 naval pilots are arrested for antigovernment activity.

November 11 – Lieutenant Dixie Kiefer makes the first night catapult launch from a ship, the U.S. Navy battleship USS California (BB-44).

November 24 – A KLM Fokker F.VII makes the first flight from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies, taking 127 hours 16 minutes.

November 25 – The dirigible LZ 126 is commissioned into the U.S. Navy as USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) at Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C..

December

December 12 – The Cierva C.6 autogyro makes the first cross-country flight by a rotary-wing aircraft, piloted by Captain Joaquín Loriga the 10.5 km (7 statute miles) from Cuatro Vientos airfield to Getafe, Spain, in eight minutes.

December 13 – In an early parasite fighter experiment, Lieutenant Clyde Flinter unsuccessfully attempts to dock his Sperry Messenger with the United States Army airship TC-3.

December 14 – A Martin MO-1 is launched using an explosive-driven catapult fitted to a turret on the U.S. Navy battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41), requiring less distance than ever for the take-off.

December 24 – Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.34 G-EBBX crashes at Purley, Surrey, in the United Kingdom, shortly after takeoff from Croydon Airport, killing all eight people on board. It is Imperial Airways' first fatal accident, and as a result of a public inquiry into the disaster Croydon Airport is expanded to absorb almost all of Beddington Aerodrome.

First flights

Avia BH-10 (Czech air arm designation Avia B.10)

Avia BH-12

Avia BH-17

Latécoère 14

Potez 25

Potez 27

Thomas-Morse TM-23

Summer 1924 – Latécoère 6

February

February 18 – Latécoère 5

March

Fairey Fawn

April

Farman F.140 Super Goliath

May

May 4 - Sikorsky S-29-A

May 26 - Tupolev ANT-2

May 30 — Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.8

June

June 16 - Blériot-SPAD S.51

June 23 - Focke-Wulf A 16

July

July 19 - Blériot 135

August

Savoia Marchetti S.55

Hawker Cygnet

Potez 26

August 21 - Fokker F.VII

September

Aero A.24

September 4 – Curtiss F4C-1

September 19 – Junkers G.24, also known as Junkers G.23

October

October 4 – Curtiss XPW-8A, predecessor of the XPW-8B, prototype in turn of the Curtiss P-1 Hawk

November

Kawanishi K-7 Transport Seaplane

November 6 - Dornier Do J

November 24 - Fokker F.VII

Entered service

Mitsubishi B1M with Imperial Japanese Navy

Autumn 1924 – Breguet 19 (A.2 reconnaissance variant; first operational variant) with the 32e, 33e, 34e, and 35e Régiments d'Aviation of the French Army's Aéronautique Militaire

May

Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III with No. 41 Squadron, Royal Air Force