This is a list of aviation-related events from 1932:
Events The Canadian Siskins aerobatic team is retired. James Work founds the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation.Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 89. Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth buys a 1928 de Havilland DH.60X Moth (G-EBWD), which he bases at Old Warden airfield in Bedfordshire, England. It remains there as of 2012, the longest continuous base for a single aircraft in aviation history. The French Armys Aéronautique Militaire retires the last of its Breguet 14 aircraft. The Breguet 14 had been in service since 1917.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 186. The United States Department of Commerce's Aeronautics Branch (predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration) issues a transport pilot license issued to C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson. Anderson is believed to be the first African American to receive a United States Government transport pilot license. The planned eighth Ford National Reliability Air Tour is cancelled. The Great Depression has placed severe financial pressure on municipal budgets, leaving cities and towns that might have hosted pilots participating in the air tour without the funds to host them or to maintain the airports the tour would have used. Moreover, the Ford Trimotor no longer sets the aviation industry standard for airliner technology thanks to the technological advances made by competitors such as Boeing and the Douglas Aircraft Company, and Henry Ford's interest in promoting aviation or expanding his company's aviation ventures has waned after the February 1928 death of his chief test pilot and close friend Harry J. Brooks in an airplane crash. Although Ford sponsors no further National Reliability Air Tours, a recreation of the air tours of 1925–1931 will take place in 2003.
January January 1 – The first United States Government regulations governing gliders and gliding go into effect. January 20 – Imperial Airways weekly airmail service is extended through Africa as far as Cape Town. January 26 – After the Stinson Model R prototype he is piloting runs out of fuel over Lake Michigan during a demonstration flight from Chicago, Illinois, Edward "Eddie" Stinson – the founder of the Stinson Aircraft Company – attempts to land the plane on a golf course. The plane's wing strikes a flagpole and shears off and the plane crashes, killing Stinson and injuring the other three people on board. January 29 – Imperial Japanese Navy seaplanes from the seaplane carrier Notoro attack Nationalist Chinese military positions in Shanghai, China, beginning Japanese air operations in the Shanghai Incident. The operations, which will continue into February, are the first significant military air operations to take place in East Asia. January 30 – The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Kaga arrives in Chinese territorial waters at the outbreak of the Shanghai Incident. The Japanese Navys use of aircraft carriers in the Shanghai Incident is history's first significant combat use of carrier-borne airpower.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: Hermes House, 2006, , p. 32.
February February 1 – The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Hōshō joins the carrier Kaga in Chinese territorial waters during the Shanghai Incident. February 5 – The first air-to-air clash of the Shanghai Incident takes place, between five Japanese aircraft from the aircraft carrier Hōshō and nine Nationalist Chinese fighters.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 50. February 14 – Ruth Nichols sets a new altitude record for a diesel-powered aircraft, in a modified Lockheed Vega. February 22 – During the Shanghai Incident, three Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima A1N2 fighters from the aircraft carrier Kaga score the first air-to-air kill in Japanese history, shooting down a Nationalist Chinese Boeing fighter piloted by an American volunteer.
March During the German election campaign of March–April 1932, Adolf Hitler becomes the first politician in history to use air travel to make political campaign appearances in several cities and towns possible in a single day, flying with planes operated by Deutsche Luft Hansa. Before the campaign ends in the election of April 10, 1932, Hitler will speak in 46 cities and towns during two one-week-long "Flights Over Germany." The final Avro 504 leaves the production line. The type has been in continuous production for nineteen years. March 6 – The Couzinet 33 passenger aircraft Biarritz sets out from France to establish the first air link between France and New Caledonia. March 20 – Luftschiffbau Zeppelin begins regular transatlantic services between Germany and Recife, Brazil, using the dirigible Graf Zeppelin. The service will continue until 1936, averaging one round-trip per month.Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the Worlds Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, , p. 34. March 24–28 – Jim Mollison sets a new speed record between the United Kingdom and Cape Town, taking 4 days 17 hours in a de Havilland Puss Moth March 25 – Dobrolyot is expanded into a USSR-wide service and has its name changed to Aeroflot
April The Spanish airline LAPE begins operations. April 1 – Hillman's Airways begins its first scheduled service, flying between Romford and Clacton-on-Sea, England, using a de Havilland Puss Moth and a de Havilland Fox Moth. April 5 – The Couzinet 33 passenger aircraft Biarritz lands at La Tontouta, New Caledonia, establishing the first air link between France and New Caledonia. It had departed France on March 6. April 16 – Record-setting aviator Frank Hawks is injured and his Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship Texaco 13 is badly damaged when he crashes on takeoff from a soggy field at Worcester, Massachusetts. He recovers and the airplane is repaired. April 19–28 – C. W. A. Scott sets a new solo speed record between the United Kingdom and Darwin, Australia, taking 8 days 20 hours in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth April 27 – Imperial Airways commences a regular passenger service to Cape Town, South Africa.
May The Egyptian Air Force is formed. Participating in prototype form, the Boeing Y1B-9 bomber proves impossible to intercept during United States Army Air Corps exercises, strengthening calls for improved air defense warning systems in the United States. May 9 – At Wright Field outside Dayton, Ohio, United States Army Air Corps Captain Albert Hegenberger makes the first completely blind solo flight entirely on instruments, in a Consolidated NY-2. May 11 – Tragedy strikes as the United States Navy dirigible attempts to land in front of thousands of spectators at Camp Kearny in San Diego, California, after a 77-hour flight from Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, when Akron suddenly lurches upward, surprising the sailors handling her lines. Four men cling to a line as Akron rises; one falls from a height of and survives with a broken arm, but two others fall to their deaths from altitudes of between . Dangling below Akron, the fourth man, Seaman Apprentice C. M. "Bud" Cowart, is carried out to sea at an altitude of and finally is reeled aboard Akron after two hours on the rope.Crawford, Richard, "Airship's 1932 Visit to S.D. Brought Tragedy", U-T San Diego News, December 5, 2009. May 15 – 1932 Kimberley rescue: German pilot Hans Bertram and mechanic Adolph Klausmann, attempting a global circumnavigation eastabout in a Junkers W 33 seaplane, endure a storm in the Timor Sea, forcing them to land off a remote part of the Kimberley coast of north-western Australia. The stranded men spend almost six weeks severely deprived of food and water and are close to death when rescued by a search party of aborigines on June 22. May 16 – The United States Department of Commerce's Aeronautics Branch publishes a new rule for a scheduled air transport pilot rating, requiring pilots to demonstrate their ability to use airway navigation aids and to fly specified maneuvers guided entirely by instruments before they can receive the rating. Pilots may receive the new rating at any time during the remainder of 1932, and it will become mandatory on January 1, 1933 for pilots making interstate flights. May 17 – Flying an Avro Avian IV, Beryl Markham completes a flight of approximately from Nairobi, Kenya, to Heston Aerodrome outside London, England. She had departed Nairobi on 24 April and flown via Sudan, Egypt, the Mediterranean Sea, and Europe in seven days of actual flying, with several forced landings and stops for engine repairs along the way. Despite having only 127 hours of flight time as a pilot before attempting the trip, she makes the flight without a radio and navigates by sight. She will make the return flight to Kenya a few months later.O′Connor, Derek, "The Remarkable Mrs. Markham," Aviation History, November 2017, p. 57.Kruper, Jackie, "Against Prevailing Winds – The Remarkable Life of Beryl Markham," womanpilot.com, April 1, 2008. May 20–21 – Amelia Earhart, flying a Lockheed Vega, becomes the first woman to make a solo flight across the North Atlantic, flying from Harbour Grace in Newfoundland to Derry in Northern Ireland in 14 hours 54 minutes.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 5.
June During United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) trials, the Martin XB-10 — prototype of the Martin B-10 bomber — records a speed of at an altitude of .Eden, Paul, and Soph Moeng, eds., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002, , p. 931. Half again as fast as biplane bombers of the period and faster than contemporary fighters, the makes all other existing bombers obsolete and begins a revolution in bomber design. USAAC General Henry H. Arnold describes the B-10 as the airpower wonder of its day.Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, New York: Purnell & Sons Ltd., 1969, First edition 1967, , p. 1846. June 7 – Misr Airlines, which later will become EgyptAir, is founded. It will begin flight operations in July 1933. June 15 – Record-setting United States Navy pilot Herbert C. Rodd dies in the crash of a Vought O2U Corsair seaplane near Hampton Roads, Virginia. June 24 – In the Soviet Union, Leningrad's Shosseynaya Airport (the future Pulkovo Airport) opens. Its first flight, an aircraft carrying passengers and mail, arrives late in the afternoon after a two-hour-and-a-half-hour flight from Moscow. June 29 – A Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk parasite fighter hooks onto the U.S. Navy dirigible for the first time.
July In an early use of air travel to make political campaign appearances in several cities and towns possible in a single day, Adolf Hitler makes his third "Flight Over Germany," a 14-day trip by air in which he makes appearances at 50 urban mass meetings. Hitler had pioneered the use of air travel in political campaigns with his first two "Flights Over Germany" during the March–April 1932 German election campaign. July 2 – With the 1932 presidential election campaign underway in the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. presidential candidate to travel by air during his campaign, flying in a chartered Ford Trimotor from Albany, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, to address the 1932 Democratic National Convention.