1939 in aviation

yearbox
in?=in aviation
cp=19th Century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1936
yp2=1937
yp3=1938
year=1939
ya1=1940
ya2=1941
ya3=1942
dp3=1900s
dp2=1910s
dp1=1920s
d=1930s
dn1=1940s
dn2=1950s
dn3=1960s

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1939:

Events

January
* January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve is formed

February
* February 9 - Alex Henshaw sets a new speed record for the round trip between England and Cape Town in 4 days 10 minutes in a Percival Mew Gull

March
* March 30 - Hans Dieterle sets a new airspeed record in a Heinkel He 100 of 746 km/h (464 mph).

April
* April 28 - Vladimir Kokkinaki and Mikhail Godienko attempt a non-stop flight from the Soviet Union to New York but are forced down on Miscou Island in bad weather the next day.

June
* June 16 - Air France commences hourly flights from Paris to London
* June 28 - Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force is formed.

July 20
* July 6, Olga Klepikowa sets a world record by flying a glider 746 km (466 miles) from Moscow to Otradnoje.
* July 20 - first flight powered by liquid-fuelled rocket made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 176

August
* August 11 - Pan American World Airways begins scheduled flights from New York, New York to Southampton, England.
* August 26 - the Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph).
* August 27 - first flight made entirely on turbojet power made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 178

September
* September 1 - Germany invades Poland. The Luftwaffe plays a key tactical bombing role in neutralising Polish defences.
* September 3 - "Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War II breaks out."
* September 3 - Paratroops are used for the first time, with German units dropped into Silesia, behind Polish lines.
* September 3 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys are used to drop propaganda leaflets into German cities.
* September 4 - first British bombs of the war dropped on German targets, with a Bristol Blenheim of 110 Squadron attacking the German fleet.

October
* October 8 - First RAF victory of World War II when a Lockheed Hudson shoots down a Dornier Do 18 over Jutland.
* October 16 - the Luftwaffe attacks its first British targets - Royal Navy warships in the Firth of Forth.

November
* the Luftwaffe begins dropping sea mines around the British coastline.
* November 24 - BOAC is formed by the merger of Imperial Airways and the original British Airways.
* November 30 - Soviet air raids on Helsinki and Viipuri mark the outbreak of the Winter War.

December
* December 18 - the Royal Air Force abandons daylight raids on Germany after a raid by Vickers Wellingtons takes heavy losses.
* December 26 - the first RAAF squadrons to join the war arrive in Britain

First flights

January
* January 27 - Lockheed XP-38

March
* March 31 - Miles Master production aircraft "N7408"

April
* April 1 - Mitsubishi Zero
* April 22 - Aeronautica Umbra Trojani AUT.18 "M.M.363"

May
* May 7 - Petlyakov VI-100
* May 14 - Short Stirling

June
* June 1 - Focke-Wulf Fw 190

July
* July 17 - Bristol Beaufighter prototype "R2052"
* July 20 - Heinkel He 176, first aircraft powered by liquid-fuelled rocket
* July 25 - Avro Manchester prototype "L7246"

August
* August 13 - Vickers Warwick
* August 27 - Heinkel He 178, first aircraft powered by turbojet

September
* September 14 - Sikorsky VS-300, first helicopter to enter mass production.
* September 24 - Handley Page Halifax H.P.57 prototype "L7244"

December
* December 29 - Consolidated XB-24

Entered service

February
* Lockheed Hudson with No. 224 Squadron RAF

August
* Miles Master

October
* Bristol Beaufort with No. 22 Squadron RAF (Coastal Command)

December
* Boulton Paul Defiant with No. 264 Squadron RAF