1956 In Aviation

Events

• March 10 - Lt Cdr Peter Twiss sets a new airspeed record in the Fairey Delta FD.2, also becoming the first person to exceed 1,000 mph. His top speed is 1,132 mph (1,821 km/h).

• May 21 - a B-52 Stratofortress drops the US's first air-dropped hydrogen bomb, a 3.75 MT device on Bikini Atoll

• June 1 - Eastern Airlines buys National Airlines.
• June 20 - the US Navy commissions its first helicopter carrier, USS Thetis Bay
• June 30 - a TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon and crash. The 128 people aboard the two aircraft are all killed. The accident prompts tighter air traffic control to be implemented in the United States.

• September 7 - the Bell X-2 research aircraft is flown by Captain Iven C. Kincheloe to a new altitude record of 126,200 ft (38,466 m).
• September 24 - the Luftwaffe is re-formed in West Germany
• September 27 - Milburn Apt sets a new airspeed record in the Bell X-2, becoming the first person to exceed Mach 3, reaching a speed of 2,094 mph (3,350 km/h) before he lost control of the X-2 and died in the resulting crash

• October 11 - a Vickers Valiant of No. 49 Squadron RAF drops Britain's first air-dropped atomic bomb, over Maralinga, South Australia
• October 31 - a US Navy R4D Skytrain is the first aircraft to land at the South Pole

• November 28 - the Ryan X-13 Vertijet makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight

First flights

• April 17 - SFECMAS Gerfaut II

• Aerfer Sagittario 2
• May 26 - Sukhoi Su-9

• July 23 - Dassault Etendard II

• August 1 - Aeritalia G.91
• August 6 - Beechcraft Travel Air

• September 10 - North American F-107

• November 11 - Convair XB-58
• November 17 - Dassault Mirage III

• December 17 - Short SC.1
• December 26 - F-106 Delta Dart

Entered service

• February 24 - Gloster Javelin with No. 46 Squadron RAF

• March 31 - A3D Skywarrior with VAH-1

• April 16 - F4D Skyray with VC-13

• August 31 - Avro Vulcan with No. 83 Squadron RAF

• September 24 - Tupolev Tu-104 with Aeroflot

• December 9 - The 463rd Troop Carrier Wing receives the Air Force's first C-130 Hercules.

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