1972 In Aviation

Events

• January 5 - US President Richard Nixon announces $US 5.5 billion in funding for the Space Shuttle program
• January 27 - Civil aviation in Canada is halted by a stike by air traffic controllers

• February 5 - Aeroflot and Lufthansa jointly open services between Moscow and Frankfurt-am-Main
• February 5 - NASA and de Havilland Canada extensively modify a C-8 Buffalo for STOL experiments

• April 1 - BOAC and BEA are merged to creat British Airways
• April 25 - Hans-Werner Grosse sets a new sailplane distance record of 1,460 km (908 miles) in a Schleicher ASW.12
• April 27 - US Air Force F-4 Phantoms destroy the Thanh Hoa bridge with laser-guided bombs.

• May 10 - Lts Randy Cunningham and J G William become the first US Navy aces of the Vietnam War, adding three Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17s to their tally on this day alone.
• May 26 - the United States and Soviet Union sign the SALT-1 strategic arms limitation treaty
• May 26 - Cessna builds its 100,000th aircraft, the first company in the world to achieve this figure.
• May 30 - three Japanese terrorists attack passengers at Tel Aviv Airport

• June 20 - Airline pilots hold a world-wide strike, calling for tighter security
• June 21 - Jean Boulet pilots a Arospatiale Lama to a new record altitude for helicopters, 12,441 m (40,820 ft)

• July 26 - NASA announces Rockwell International as prime contractor for the Space Shuttle Orbiter

• August 1 - Delta Air Lines absorbs Northeast Airlines
• August 11 - NATO signs a development contract for the MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme, which will eventually result in the Panavia Tornado
• August 28 - Cpt Richard Richie becomes the first US Air Force ace of the Vietnam War.
• August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester is killed in the crash of a Piper Cherokee Arrow during the Gordonwood Trophy race.

• September 22 - the 1,000th Boeing 727 is sold, a sales record for airliners

• October 10 - Competitive fly-off between the Northrop YA-9 and Fairchild YA-10 begins, continuing until December 9.
• October 13 - a Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild FH-227 crashes in the Andes. Survivors resort to eating dead passengers before their rescue two months later.
• October 26 - Igor Sikorsky dies

• December 23 - Andrei Tupolev dies, aged 86
• December 26 - 117 B-52 Stratofortresses attack Hanoi in Operation Linebacker II, the largest air assault in the Vietnam War to this time.

First flights

• January 21 - S-3 Viking

• May 10 - Fairchild YA-10
• May 30 - Northrop YA-9

• June 2 - Arospatiale Dauphin

• July 27 - McDonnell Douglas YF-15A

• October 28 - Airbus A300

Entered service

• April 26 - Lockheed TriStar with Eastern Air Lines

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