This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941:
Events During the spring and summer, the Imperial Japanese Navy's air arm conducts Operation 102, its second major bombing campaign against Chongqing.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 121. By early autumn, the Imperial Japanese Navy has turned all air operations on the Chinese mainland over to the Imperial Japanese Army.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 122. The Aeronautical Corporation of America renames itself Aeronca.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 16. The United States Navy retires the ZMC-2 and sells it for scrap. It is the only successfully operated metal-skinned airship ever built, completing 752 flights and logging 2,265 hours of flight time in nearly 12 years of U.S. Navy service at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey.Morrow, Walker C. and Carl B. Fritsche. The Metalclad Airship ZMC-2. 1967.
January The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) withdraws all bombers and biplane fighters from the Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps)—its expeditionary force based in Belgium for operations against the United Kingdom—leaving only Fiat G.50 Freccia monoplane fighters in the Corpo.Wikipedia Corpo Aereo Italiano article. The Imperial Japanese Navy forms its first air fleet, the Eleventh Air Fleet.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 151. Imperial Japanese Navy Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue argues that control of the sea will first require control of the air above it, that aircraft could achieve this control without assistance by aircraft carriers or other surface ships, and that land-based bombers and flying boats had become so potent that the aircraft carrier has become obsolete.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , pp. 159-161. January 5 – Ferrying an Airspeed Oxford from Prestwick, Scotland, to RAF Kidlington, England, pioneering English aviator Amy Johnson goes off course in poor weather, runs out of fuel, and bails out as her aircraft crashes into the Thames Estuary. The Royal Navy barrage balloon ship attempts to rescue her, but a swell pushes her into the ship's propellers, which kill her. Her body is never recovered. January 7 – Adolf Hitler orders Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft to begin supporting German U-boat operations in the Atlantic Ocean.Mason, David, U-Boat: The Secret Menace, New York: Ballantine Books, 1968, no ISBN, p. 48. January 9 – 10 Italian bombers attack a Gibraltar-to-Malta convoy escorted by the British aircraft carriers and , scoring no hits and losing two of their number to Fairey Fulmar fighters from Ark Royal.Macintyre, Donald, The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 166. January 9–10 (overnight) – 135 British bombers attack oil targets in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.Hinchcliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, , p. 59. January 10 – German aircraft make their combat debut in the Mediterranean theater. German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers and Junkers Ju 88s of Fliegerkorps X join Italian bombers in attacking the British aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean while she is escorting the Gibraltar-to-Malta convoy. The Italian attacks are ineffective, but the German aircraft score six hits, knocking Illustrious out of action until the end of November.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 61.Macintyre, Donald, The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1971, no ISBN, pp. 166-168. January 11 – Fliegerkorps X aircraft continue attacks on the Gibraltar-to-Malta convoy, damaging the light cruiser and fatally damaging the light cruiser .Macintyre, Donald, The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 168. January 16 – 60 German dive bombers make a massed attack on the Malta Dockyard in an attempt to destroy the damaged British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, but she receives only one bomb hit. Incessant German and Italian bombing raids will target Malta through March, opposed by only a handful of British fighters.Macintyre, Donald, The Naval War Against Hitler, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1971, no ISBN, p. 169. January 17 – During the French-Thai War, the Battle of Ko Chang opens with a bombing attack on Royal Thai Navy warships at Ko Chang, Thailand, by a French Loire 130 flying boat and ends with Royal Thai Air Force aircraft bombing French warships. All air attacks in the battle are ineffective, although a Thai bomb which fails to explode hits the French light cruiser La Motte-Picquet. January 18 – A large German air raid strikes Maltas airfields and other facilities. January 19 – German aircraft again attack the Malta dockyard, causing underwater damage to HMS Illustrious. January 20 – Brazil merges the air arms of the Brazilian Army and Brazilian Navy to form an independent air forceScheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, , p. 196. called the National Air Forces. The National Air Forces will be renamed the Brazilian Air Force in May.
February German aircraft begin high-altitude reconnaissance flights over the western Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin orders Soviet fighters and antiaircraft artillery not to oppose them.Hardesty, Von, Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941-1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982, , p. 17. Under pressure from the United States Government, the Government of Peru cancels the licenses of the German-controlled airline Deutsche Lufthansa Sucursal en Peru and requisitions its fleet of two Junkers Ju 52s. Peru transfers the airline's operations to Pan American-Grace Airways, a U.S. airline, at the same time.Bluffield, Robert, Over Empires and Oceans: Pioneers, Aviators and Adventurers Forging the International Air Routes 1918–1939, Ticehurst, U.K.: Tattered Flag Press, 2014, , p. 89. February 2 – Eight Fairey Swordfish aircraft from the British aircraft carrier attack the dam at San Chiar d'Ula, Sardinia, with torpedoes, but inflict no visible damage on the dam.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 56. February 5 – The Air Training Corps is formed in the United Kingdom, superseding the Air Defence Cadet Corps. February 8 – A fleet of Junkers Ju 52s is used to airlift German troops to North Africa. February 10 – Britain uses paratroops for the first time in an attack on Tragino February 10–11 (overnight) – 222 British bombers attack Hanover, Germany, losing seven of their number, and 43 others attack oil storage tanks in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In the Rotterdam raid, the Short Stirling makes its combat debut as the United Kingdoms first four-engined heavy bomber.Chant, Chris, The Worlds Great Bombers, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000, , p. 113.Hinchcliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, , p. 57. February 20 – A Lockheed Hudson Mark III bomber crashes at Musgrave Harbor on Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland due to engine failure soon after takeoff from Gander, leading to three deaths, including that of Canadian medical scientist, physician, painter, and Nobel laureate Sir Frederick Banting, who succumbs to his injuries on February 21. Noted as the first person to use insulin on humans, Banting is working on the design of pressure suits at the time of his death February 21 – The first flight by a British RAF flying boat through the "Donegal Corridor", neutral Republic of Ireland airspace between its base in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, a concession secretly agreed by Taoiseach (i.e., Prime Minister) Éamon de Valera. February 24–25 (overnight) – The Avro Manchester bomber makes its combat debut in an RAF Bomber CommandHinchcliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, , p. 58. raid on Brest, France. February 26 Philippine Airlines is founded, making it Asias first and oldest carrier, still to this day operating under its original name. It makes its first flight on March 15. A Douglas DC-3 airliner operating as Eastern Airlines Flight 21 crashes outside of Atlanta. Among the eight dead is Maryland Congressman William D. Byron. Eight people survive, including the U.S. top-scoring ace of World War I and Eastern Airlines president Eddie Rickenbacker, who is gravely injured but eventually recovers.
March March 1 – New Zealand's first fighter squadron, the Royal New Zealand Air Forces No. 485 Squadron is formed. March 10–11 (overnight) – The Handley Page Halifax becomes the second British four-engined bomber to enter combat, as six Halifaxes of No. 35 Squadron join eight Bristol Blenheims in attacking Le Havre, France. March 11 – The Congress of the United States passes the Lend-Lease bill, paving the way for the provision of (amongst other equipment) 16,000 warplanes to the United Kingdom. Later Lend-Lease arrangements will supply other Allied nations. March 14 -- A major dogfight fought between Chinese Air Force I-15/I-153 fighters against the Empire of Japan's newest air-superiority fighter aircraft; the A6M Zero over Shuangliu (Shuangguisi) air base, resulting in a great loss for the Chinese-side including the deaths of two of their top fighter-aces. March 26 – The United States Army redesignates the Northwest Air District as the Second Air Force, the Southeast Air District as the Third Air Force, and the Southwest Air District as the Fourth Air Force. They are responsible for the northwestern, southeastern, and southwestern United States, respectively. March 28 – During the Battle of Cape Matapan in the Mediterranean, Swordfish and Albacore torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier and land-based Fleet Air Arm Swordfish from Maleme, Crete, damage the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto and heavy cruiser Pola, slowing Pola. In the predawn darkness of the next morning, British battleships catch up to the damaged Pola and the four ships accompanying her – the heavy cruisers Zara and Fiume and two destroyers – and sink all five ships with gunfire. March 30 – The second prototype Heinkel He 280, the world's first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft, is first flown under its own power by Fritz Schäfer in Germany.
April The last aircraft of the Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps) return to Italy from Belgium, ending the participation of the Regia Aeronautica in attacks on England. The United States Department of War orders the U.S. Armys First, Second, Third, and Fourth Air Forces each to set up a separate bomber and interceptor command.Sweetman, John, Schweinfurt: Disaster in the Skies, New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1971, p. 23. The United States Navy makes its first attempts to interest commercial aviators in reporting submarine sightings.Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939-May 1943, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 289.