This is a list of aviation-related events from 1923:

Events The Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation is absorbed by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 202. During 1923, French Breguet 14T bis Sanitaire air ambulances evacuate 870 wounded French personnel from the Levant and French Morocco.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 186.

January Air Union is created by the merger of Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes (CMA) with Grands Express Aériens (CGEA). January 1 The French aviator Joseph Sadi-Lecointe sets a new air speed record, averaging at Istres, France.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, , p. 298. Canada′s Air Board is officially absorbed into the Department of National Defence. The Canadian Air Force becomes responsible for the control and regulation of all civil aviation in Canada. January 9 or 17 – The Cierva C.4, designed by Juan de la Cierva y Cordoniu and piloted by Alejandro Gomez Spencer, makes its first flight, covering a distance of about at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain. It is the first flight by an autogyro, and the first stable flight by any form of rotary-wing aircraft. January 13 – The Aeromarine Airways Aeromarine 75 flying boat Columbus suffers engine failure during a flight from Key West, Florida, to Havana Cuba, and lands in the Florida Strait. Buffeted by 10-to-15-foot (3-to-4.5-meter) waves, it begins to fill with water. Four passengers die, but the ferry ship H. M. Flagler saves the other three passengers and both crew members.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description January 20 – After suffering an engine failure in flight, the Cierva C.4 autogyro uses autorotation to land without damage. January 24 The Government of Italy establishes a Commission for the Air Force, with Prime Minister Benito Mussolini as commissioner and Aldo Finzi as his deputy.Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 54. The Italian press reports that in a test of the Italian armed forces′ ability to get all their airplanes into the air at the same time and keep them flying for one hour, only 76 were able to do so. The armed forces′ own statistics report that the Italian Royal Army had 237 aircraft in working order and the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) had 48. The discrepancy arises from Prime Minister Benito Mussolini′s to depict his predecessors in the Italian government as militarily incompetent. January 31 – The Cierva C.4 flies a 4-kilometer (2.5-statute mile) circuit at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain.

February The Royal Air Force conducts operations in southern Iraq against uprisings led by Sheik Mahmud Barzenci. A British pilot, William Jordan, lands a Mitsubishi 1MF fighter on the Imperial Japanese Navys new aircraft carrier Hōshō, then takes off from Hōshō. It is the first landing on and first take off from a Japanese aircraft carrier.Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, , p. 85. The title "Royal" is granted to the Canadian Air Force. The Government of Canada will approve the title on 1 April 1924, establishing the Royal Canadian Air Force. February 1 – The Danish Army Flying Corps is established. February 15 – The French aviator Joseph Sadi-Lecointe sets a new world air speed record, averaging at Paris, France.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, , p. 300.

March The British Sempill Mission to Japan, led by Sir William Francis Forbes-Sempill, returns to the United Kingdom. During its 18-month stay in Japan, the Mission has greatly improved Imperial Japanese Navy aviation training and understanding of aircraft carrier flight deck operations and the latest naval aviation tactics and technology, and the aircraft it brought to Japan will inspire the design of a number of Japanese naval aircraft of the 1920s. Chilean President Arturo Alessandri separates the Chilean naval aviation arm from the Chilean Army air corps, placing it under Chilean Navy control.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, , p. 199. The Chilean Navy installs its first aircraft catapult aboard the battleship Almirante Latorre. March 16 – Imperial Japanese Navy Lieutenant Shunichi Kira lands a Mitsubishi 1MF fighter on the aircraft carrier Hōshō, becoming the first Japanese pilot to land on an aircraft carrier.Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, , p. 90. March 17 Dobrolyot is formed as the first Soviet civil aviation service; it will become part of the flag carrier Aeroflot. The United States government authorizes United States Army Air Service aircraft to drop calcium arsenate on Louisiana's cotton fields in order to kill weevils. March 20 – El Salvador forms the Salvadoran Army Air Force. It later will become the Salvadoran Air Force. March 28 – The Italian Army′s air arm, the Corpo Aeronautico Militare, becomes an independent air force, the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force). March 29 – Flying a Curtiss R-6 at Wilbur Wright Field outside Dayton, Ohio, United States Army Air Service First Lieutenant Russell Maughan averages over a course, setting an unofficial world speed record, and reaches a top speed measured at . Less than an hour later, First Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland reaches in another Curtiss R-6, setting another unofficial world absolute speed record, and reaches a top speed measured at , but Orville Wright, as official observer for the National Aeronautics Association, disqualifies the pilots from recognition for the official record because they fail to sustain level flight, using a dive to gain speed. Official observers estimate that the pilots reach an unmeasured speed exceeding during their dives.

April April 1 – The Royal Air Force abandons the squadron as the basic organizational unit for those of its aircraft operating from Royal Navy ships, reorganizing them into six-plane flights.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 10. April 10 – Daimler Airways begins the first scheduled airline service between London and Berlin (via Bremen and Hamburg). April 16–17 – United States Army Air Service Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley G. Kelly establish a new endurance record, staying aloft for 36 hours 5 minutes in a Fokker T-2, covering a distance of .

May May 1 – enters service with the Royal Navy. She is the first ship designed from the waterline up as an aircraft carrier and the first aircraft carrier with an island superstructure to enter service. May 2–3 – United States Army Air Service Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley G. Kelly complete the first non-stop flight across the continental United States, flying from Hempstead, New York, to San Diego, California, covering in 26 hours 50 minutes in a Fokker T-2 at an average speed of over . May 3 The Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation is formed by Igor Sikorsky at a Long Island chicken farm. The Fifth International Conference of American States — held at Santiago, Chile, from March 25 to May 3 — concludes. During the conference, delegates had adopted a resolution providing for the creation of an InterAmerican Commercial Aviation Commission to meet to consider problems relating to aviation, draw up conclusions in the form of one or more conventions, and submit the convention or conventions to the member countries of the Pan-American Union for ratification. May 10 – Brazil establishes a School of Naval Aviation in Rio de Janeiro near Galeão beach on Governador Island. Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport eventually will be constructed on the site. May 14 – A Farman F.60 Goliath operated by Air Union on a flight from Paris-Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, France, to Croydon Airport in London, England, loses a wing in flight, crashes near Monsures, France, and is destroyed by fire. All six people on board die.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description May 21 – A Curtiss bomber and two Curtiss scout aircraft of the Argentine Navy make a flight of just under along the coast of Argentina from Puerto Militar to Buenos Aires. It is a significant step forward in the development of Argentine aviation. May 23 – The Belgian airline SABENA is formed, adding new European routes to SNETA's routes in Belgian Congo that it takes over. May 29 Albert Louis Deullin, a French World War I flying ace credited with 20 aerial victories, dies in a flying accident while testing the prototype of a new airplane at Villacoublay airfield in Villacoublay, France. Reuben Fleet founds Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation .

June The United States Army Air Service demonstrates an aerial refueling system using two Airco DH.4 aircraft. The system employs a hose with an on/off nozzle and large funnels.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. 46. The admirals′ committee of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) pronounces itself in favor of the construction of at least one aircraft carrier to operate with the Italian fleet, providing the fleet with air defense as well as an offensive aerial strike capability.Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 50. June 14 – New Zealand forms its first military aviation services, fore-runners of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. June 23 – While Ernest Foot — a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories — is competing in the first Grosvenor Challenge Cup, his Bristol M.1D monoplane crashes between Chertsey and Chobham, England, bursting into flames and killing him instantly.

July Twenty-one aircraft compete in the Grand Prix de Motoaviette – a competition at Buc, Yvelines, France, open to any aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of less than , offering a 125,000 FF prize for the fastest flight of 30 laps around a course. Lucien Coupet wins in a Salmson 3 Ad-powered Farman Aviette, covering in 4 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds. July 4 – The American aviator B. H. DeLay — who had pioneered many popular stunts used in early barnstorming airshows, adapted them to movies, then appeared in movies with top Hollywood stars — and his passenger die while DeLay is performing stunts before thousands of spectators over Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California, when the wings of his plane — the Wasp — fold back at the top of a loop-the-loop and the plane plunges nose-first into the ground. An investigation reveals that pins of a substandard size had been used in the wings, indicating sabotage. No culprit ever was identified.Police Investigating First Aerial Murder: B. H. De Lay, The Coshocton Tribune, July 15, 1923.Sheriff Suspects Aerial Murder (of B. H. DeLay, Well Known Stunt Aviator), The Indianapolis Star, July 7, 1923.Last Rites for De Lay Tomorrow: Services for Famous Flyer Have Been Arranged for at Los Angeles Crematory, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1923. ("DeLay was nationally known for his daring stunts in the air.")

August