1949 in aviation

yearbox
in?=in aviation
cp=19th Century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1946
yp2=1947
yp3=1948
year=1949
ya1=1950
ya2=1951
ya3=1952
dp3=1910s
dp2=1920s
dp1=1930s
d=1940s
dn1=1950s
dn2=1960s
dn3=1970s

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1949:

Events

* Aerolíneas Argentinas established.
* Royal Jordanian Air Force forms as the Arab League Air Force
* Republic of Korea Air Force forms
* Lebanese Air Force forms

January

* January 7 - No. 208 Squadron RAF loses four Supermarine Spitfires and a Hawker Tempest to Israeli Air Force fighters

February

* February 26-March 2 - B-50 Superfortress "Lucky Lady II" of the 43rd Bombardment Group, completed the first non-stop around-the-world flight from and to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona. The 23,452 mile (37,742 km) journey takes 94 hours 1 minute.

April

* April 4 - "NATO is formed"
* April 20-21 - a Short Sunderland flies medical personnel and supplies to HMS "Amethyst", shelled by Chinese Communist forces on the Yangtze River.

May

* the United States Marine Corps practices deploying by helicopter for the first time, in Exercise Packard III.
* May 4 - The Canadian Blue Devils aerobatic team is formed.
* May 11 - No. 28 Squadron RAF flies from Malaya to Hong Kong to help reinforce the island against Communist forces on mainland China.
* May 19 - a JRM Mars sets a new record of 308 for the largest number of people to be carried on a single aircraft.
* May 21 - a Sikorsky S-52 sets a new helicopter altitude record of 21,200 ft (6,468 m).

July

* July 25 - Second Lieutenant Bob Kipp of the Canadian Blue Devils aerobatic team is killed in a training accident.

August

* August 9 - US Navy Lt. J. L. Fruin loses control of his F2H-1 Banshee and ejects, becoming the first American pilot to use an ejector seat during an actual in-flight emergency.
* August 23 - BOAC commences its first services to the Far East to be flown entirely by landplanes.

eptember

*September 9 – Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 exploded in mid-flight en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau as the result of an on board bomb, killing all 23 on board. See Albert Guay affair.
* September 30 - the Berlin Airlift officially ends, with 2,325 tons (2,362 tonnes) of food and supplies having been flown into the city. The final flight is made a week later.

October

*October 27 – Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed in the Azores – 48 died including French boxing star Marcel Cerdan and the young concert violinist, Ginette Neveu.

November

*November 1 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, a Douglas C-54B-10-DO, en route from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. collided with a P-38 fighter on its final approach to National Airport. Both planes crashed, killing all 55 people on board the Douglas. The P-38 pilot, Eric Rios Bridaux, survived. Bridaux was a Bolivian Air Force pilot. Among the dead were Congressman George J. Bates and former Congressman Michael J. Kennedy.
* November 18 - a Douglas C-74 Loadmaster carries 103 passengers and crew over the North Atlantic, the largest number to have made the crossing in a single flight.
* November 29 - American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6 en route from New York City to Mexico City, veers off the runway and strikes buildings after an engine failure on final approach to Dallas Love Field. 26 passengers and 2 crew members are killed.

December

*December 8 - Muroc Army Airfield was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of test pilot Glen Edwards

First flights

January
* January 23 - Dassault Ouragan

March
* March 9 - Avro Shackleton prototype "VW126"

April
* April 14 - Aero Ae 50
* April 14 - Helio Courier
* April 21 - Leduc 0.10

May
* May 9 - XF-91 Thunderceptor
* May 13 - English Electric Canberra prototype "VN799"

June
* June 4 - Lockheed XF-90
* June 20 - Blackburn Beverley

July
* July 17 - Vickers Varsity
* July 27 - De Havilland Comet - the world's first jet-propelled airliner at Hatfield, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom

September
* September 2 - De Havilland Venom
* September 4 - Avro 707 "VX784"
* September 4 - Bristol Brabazon
* September 19 - Fairey Gannet prototype "VR546"
* September 24 - North American XT-28

November
* November 7 - Sikorsky S-55
* November 27 - C-124 Globemaster II

Entered service

April
* April 1 - Boeing Stratocruiser with Pan Am

May
* F9F Panther with United States Navy VF-51