This is a list of aviation-related events from 1937:
Events Over Tushino airfield near Moscow, Soviet aircraft fly in precise formations spelling "LENIN", "STALIN," and "USSR."Hardesty, Von, Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941-1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982, , p. 49. Cuba establishes a naval aviation arm.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, , p. 201. Kawasaki Heavy Industries moves its airframe manufacturing business into a new subsidiary, the Kawasaki Aircraft Engineering Company Ltd.Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, , p. 21.
January January 12 – Adventurer and filmmaker Martin Johnson, of Martin and Osa Johnson fame, is killed along with four others in the crash of Western Air Express Flight 7 in mountainous terrain near Saugus, California. January 19 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.
February Manchukuo officially establishes the Manchukuo Imperial Air Force. In fact, it had existed unofficially since 1932. Hans von Ohain begins ground-testing a turbojet engine. February 3 – In the Spanish Civil War, a Nationalist (rebel) attack on Málaga begins, supported by an Italian "legionary" air force of about 100 aircraft.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , pp. 583, 585. February 18 – Nationalist ace Joaquín García Morato plays a major role in an air-to-air engagement in which a Nationalist force of Fiat CR.32 fighters defeats a Republican (loyalist) one of Polikarpov I-15s, shooting down eight I-15s. The battle gives the Nationalists temporary air superiority during the Battle of Jarama and demonstrates that the CR.32s could defeat the I-15s – which previously had dominated the CR.32s over Spain – if handled courageously and imaginatively.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , p. 594. February 19 – Flying in heavy rain, the Airlines of Australia Stinson Model A City of Brisbane (registration VH-UHH) crashes in the McPherson Range in Australia′s Lamington National Park. Both pilots and two of the five passengers die in the crash, and another passenger dies in a fall over a waterfall after he goes for help. The Australian author Bernard O'Reilly becomes a national hero in Australia when he hikes into the wilderness on February 28 to look for the plane and discovers the airliner's wreckage and the two surviving passengers on March 1. February 22–26 – The "International Circuit of the Oases" event at Almaza Airport in Egypt. 41 competitors take part in two races – a 1303-mile (2097 km) handicap race, and a speed race. Competing aircraft arrived from Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Romania.Johan Visschedijk, "Avro 641 Commodore"
March The French aircraft manufacturer Dewoitine is nationalized, becoming Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (SNCA du Midi, or SNCAM). March 5 – Imperial Airways opens a new flying boat base at Hythe, Hampshire, England. March 8 – A Nationalist offensive begins against Guadalajara, Spain, with support by Italian forces, including 50 fighters and 12 reconnaissance planes.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , pp. 596-597. March 16 At the Avignon-Pujaut Military Training Center at Avignon, France, French aviator and parachutist Edith Clark is killed when the new model of French Air Force parachute she is using fails to open on her third jump of the day and 200th of her career. She falls to her death from an altitude of 500 meters (1,640 feet). Led by 2nd Bombardment Group commander Lieutenant Colonel Robert Olds, four Y1B-17 Flying Fortress bombers make a flight in which they take off from Langley Field, Virginia, and fly over 20 cities — including Augusta, Maine; Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Richmond, Virginia — before landing at Langley Field after an 11-hour flight. March 17 – Amelia Earhart flies a Lockheed Electra from Oakland, California, to Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii, on the first leg of an attempted circumnavigation of the world, making the flight in 15 hours 47 minutes. March 17–29 – The Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42B Samoan Clipper makes the first aerial survey flight to link the continental United States, the Territory of Hawaii, and New Zealand, piloted by the airline's chief pilot, Edwin Musick. After an overnight flight on March 17–18 from Alameda, California, to Honolulu, where it pauses for engine repairs until March 23, the plane continues the flight with stops at Kingman Reef and American Samoa before arriving on March 29 at Auckland, where 30,000 people greet it and its crew. March 18 – The Bossi-Bonomi Pedaliante achieves the first sustained 1-km (0.621-mile) human-powered flight, with a catapult launch. March 20 – As Earhart tries to leave Hawaii for the second leg of her around-the-world flight, her Electra is severely damaged in an aborted takeoff from Luke Field on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, bringing her circumnavigation attempt to an end.Aviation Hawaii: 1930-1939 Chronology of Aviation in Hawaii March 22 Spanish Nationalist leader Francisco Franco orders his National Aviation (Aviación Nacional) force to begin a bombing campaign against the Basques in northern Spain.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , p. 612. The 71-year-old English aviator and ornithologist Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, dies in the crash of her de Havilland DH.60GIII Moth Major into the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, England. Her body is never recovered. March 25 – The Transcontinental and Western Air Douglas DC-2 NC13730 crashes nose first into a gully near Clifton, Pennsylvania, due to atmospheric icing during a flight from Camden Central Airport in Camden County, New Jersey, to Allegheny County Airport outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing all 13 people on board.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description Doris Hammons, the first TWA flight attendant – known at the time as an "air hostess" – killed in an airplane crash, is among the dead.TWA History Timeline March 28 – Taking off in thick fog from Archerfield, Queensland, Australia, for an early-morning mail and newspaper flight, the Airlines of Australia Stinson Model A Lismore (registration VH-UGG) crashes into trees, lands inverted, and explodes, killing its two-man crew.Aviation Safety Network ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 28517 March 31 – A Spanish Nationalist ground offensive begins against the Basques, supported by 80 German aircraft based at Vitoria-Gasteiz and 70 Spanish Nationalist and Italian aircraft based elsewhere in northern Spain. Opposing them are 20 to 30 Basque aircraft. On the first day, German Junkers Ju 52s conduct the first terror bombing and strafing of an undefended town in Europe, killing 248 people in Durango.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , pp. 614, 616-617. March 31-April 4 – Supporting Nationalist forces, 40 to 50 aircraft per day bomb Ochandiano, Spain.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , p. 617.
April Flying a Breda Ba.88 Lince, Breda chief test pilot Furio Niclot sets two speed-over-distance world records, averaging 517 km/h (321.25 mph) over a 100 km (62.1 mile) distance and 475 km/h (295.15 mph) over a 1000 km (621 mile) circuit.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 184. The Martin M-130 flying boat Hawaii Clipper completes Pan American World Airways 100th transpacific flight without a single passenger fatality. It is considered a remarkable safety record at the time.Geoghegan, John J., "Vanished!", Aviation History, November 2013, p. 30. American Export Airlines is founded. April 6–9 – Masaaki Iinuma (pilot) and Kenji Tsukagoshi (flight mechanic and navigator) fly the Mitsubishi Ki-15 J-BAAI Kamikaze 15,366 km (9,542 statute miles) from Tachikawa, Japan, to Croydon Airport in London in a record 94 hours 17 minutes 56 seconds, of which 51 hours 17 minutes 23 seconds is spent in the air at an average speed of 162 km/h (101.2 mph).Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, , p. 151. It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe. April 11 – Trans-Canada Airlines – the future Air Canada – is established. It will begin flight operations on September 1. April 12 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England. April 13 – Frank Hawks flies the Hawks Miller HM-1 Time Flies about 1,100 miles (1,771 km) from Hartford, Connecticut, to Miami, Florida in 4 hours 55 minutes. After lunch, he flies the plane from Miami to Newark, New Jersey, in 4 hours 21 minutes. The aircraft is damaged on landing at Newark and Hawks opts not to rebuild it.Matthews, Birch, Race With The Wind: How Air Racing Advanced Aviation, St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks, 2001, , p. 98.]aircargo.com "Time Flies at 70" April 20 – A new Nationalist advance begins in Vizcaya province in northern Spain, supported by a preliminary aerial bombardment.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , p. 623. April 26 – Four Heinkel He 111 and 23 Junkers Ju 52 bombers of the German Condor Legion attack Guernica, Spain, in the first example of "carpet bombing" to demoralize a civilian population. Over three hours, the bombers drop 45,000 kg (99,207 lbs) of bombs, destroying 70% of the city and killing at least 1,000, and perhaps as many as a third (over 1,600 people) of its inhabitants. Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Heinkel He 51 fighters also strafe the town to kill any inhabitants they see. The town burns for three days. The damage shocks Spanish Nationalist military leaders, and the Condor Legion engages in no further area bombing during the Spanish Civil War.Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the Worlds Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, , p. 269.Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , pp. 624-625, 627. April 27 – Henrich Focke and Gerd Achgelis found the Focke-Achgelis company to design and manufacture helicopters at Hoykenkamp, Germany.
May In the Spanish Civil War, the Republicans have the technological and numerical superiority in the air, with about 450 aircraft, including 150 Soviet and 50 other fighters and 60 Soviet and 40 other bombers; they have lost about 150 aircraft since the war began in July 1936. The Nationalists have a little less than 400 aircraft, with about 150 flown by Spanish pilots, about 100 in the German Condor Legion, and about 120 in the Italian "legionary air force."Thomas, Hugh, The Spanish Civil War, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986, , p. 678. May 6 – The Hindenburg disaster occurs when the German dirigible Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed at the end of a transatlantic flight while attempting to dock with a mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 97 people on board, 35 are killed, as is one member of the ground crew. May 8 – Lieutenant Colonel Mario Pezzi of Italy sets a new world altitude record of 15,655 meters (51,362 feet)Donald, Davidd, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 198. in a Caproni Ca.161.