This is a list of aviation-related events from 1947:
Events The United States inventory of atomic bombs reaches a total of 13 weapons during the year.Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 12.
January January 7 – Pioneering aviator Helen Richey is found dead at the age of 37 in her New York City apartment, apparently having committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills.Lynch, Adam, "Hometown Heroine," Aviation History, March 2012, p. 58. January 8 A U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee report predicts that by 1956 the Soviet Union will have atomic bombs and strategic bombers capable of delivering them to the continental United States.Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 54. A U.K. Cabinet sub-committee approves High Explosive Research, a civil project to develop an independent British atomic bomb. January 11 – The BOAC Douglas C-47A G-AGJX crashes into a hill at Stowting in southeast England, killing eight of the 16 people on board and injuring all eight survivors. Among the injured is Member of Parliament Tom Horabin. January 14 The United States replaces the national insignia for its military aircraft adopted in September 1943 with a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles bisected by a horizontal red stripe, with the entire insignia outlined in blue , which is still in use in the 21st century.Angelucci, Enzo, with Peter Bowers, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1985, , pp. 21. The U.S. Joint Intelligence Staff estimates that in the event of a war the Soviet Union could mobilize 15,000 combat aircraft. January 16 – The Burmese Air Force is founded. January 17 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee notes that the Soviet Union maintains a peacetime deployment of 5,000 combat aircraft in Europe. January 25 A Spencer Airways Douglas Dakota crashes on takeoff into a parked and empty Czech Airlines Douglas C-47 Skytrain at Croydon Airport near London, England, killing 12 of the 23 people aboard the Spencer Airlines plane. A Philippine plane crashes in Hong Kong, with $5 million worth of gold and money. January 26 – A KLM Douglas DC-3 Dakota crashes after take-off from Copenhagen, Denmark, killing all 22 on board, including Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten of Sweden, and American operatic soprano and musical theater and film actress Grace Moore.planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1940s January 30 – Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates history's first regularly scheduled all-cargo air service to operate over the North Atlantic Ocean.TWA History Timeline
February February 25 – The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that the United States use atomic bombs early in any war with the Soviet Union and call for an increase in the American inventory of atomic weapons. February 28 – In a single flight, U.S. Army Air Forces Captain Robert E. Thacker (pilot) and Lieutenant John M. Ard (co-pilot) in the North American P-82B Twin Mustang fighter Betty Jo make both the longest nonstop flight without aerial refueling by a fighter aircraft, about 4,968 statute miles (7,994 km) from Hickam Field in the Territory of Hawaii to La Guardia Field in New York City, and the fastest flight between Hawaii and New York City up to that time, 14 hours 31 minutes 50 seconds at an average speed of . It remains both the longest non-stop flight by a piston-engined fighterAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 340. and the fastest Hawaii-to-New York City flight by a piston-engined aircraftThe AMA History Program Presents: Biography of COL. ROBERT E. THACKER, RET. in history.
March March 3 – In Naval Strategic Planning Study 3, the Strategic Plans Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations asserts that U.S. Navy aircraft carriers will be able to operate successfully against the coast of the Soviet Union in the face of substantial land-based Soviet air power, stating that the carriers are "the only weapon in the possession of the U.S. which can deliver early and effective attacks against Russian air power and selective shore objectives in the initial stages of a Russo-American conflict." The findings anger U.S. Air Force planners, who view strategic attacks against the Soviet Union as a strictly Air Force mission.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945–1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 131. March 5 – The 26th country ratifies the Convention on International Civil Aviation, permitting a permanent organization to replace the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO).icao.int International Civil Aviation Organization History March 14 – Saudi Arabian Airlines begins regular domestic services. March 16 – Saudi Arabian Airlines begins regular international services. March 21 – Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela (LAV) inaugurates its first service to the United States with a route between Caracas and Idlewild Airport in New York City, using Lockheed Constellations it had purchased earlier in the year. March 24 – Reeve Aleutian Airways is founded.
April April 1 – JAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport commences operations as the flag carrier of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It replaces Aeroput, Yugoslavia's first civilian airline and the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1927 to April 1941, when the German invasion of Yugoslavia knocked it out of business and destroyed most of its property. Aeroput never resumes flight operations and will be dissolved in December 1948. April 4 – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is formed under the terms of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, replacing the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO), which had operated since June 1945. April 12–16 – Piloting the Douglas A-26B Invader Reynolds Bombshell (NX67834), William P. "Bill" Odom sets an unofficial speed record for an around-the-world flight, completing it in 3 days, 6 hours, 55 minutes, 56 seconds. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) does not recognize the record. April 27 – A United Airlines Douglas DC-6 becomes the first DC-6 to be placed in overseas service when it flies from San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii.Aviation Hawaii: 1940–1949 Chronology of Aviation in Hawaii
May The Royal Navy forms its first all-helicopter squadron, No. 705 Squadron, which serves as the Fleet Air Arms Helicopter Fleet Requirements Unit at Gosport.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 182. May 1 – United Airlines begins daily scheduled service between San Francisco and Honolulu. May 2 – Swissair attempts its first flight to New York City, flying a Douglas DC-4 from Switzerland via Shannon Airport in Ireland and Stephenville in the Dominion of Newfoundland. Fog at New York City's LaGuardia Airport forces the airliner to divert to Washington, D.C., where it arrives 20 hours 55 minutes after departing Switzerland. May 15 The U.S. Joint War Planning Committee reports that the Soviet Air Force has 13,100 combat aircraft and that the Soviet satellite states have another 3,309, and that a month after the beginning of mobilization this could increase to 20,000 Soviet and 3,359 satellite state aircraft. It estimates that in an offensive in central Europe, the Soviet Union would employ 7,000 attack aircraftRoss, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , pp. 36–37, 40. The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration introduces its "Accelerated Service Test", which requires an airliner to undergo a rigorous 150-hour test that simulates one year of service in a week to 10 days of flying. A Martin 2-0-2 is the first airplane to undergo the test, visiting about 50 cities in seven days, with comprehensive inspections made of the aircraft's systems at each city to assess how wear or malfunction would occur.Big Spring Daily Herald (Texas), August 12, 1947, page 3 May 17 – Flying Eastern Airlines' first Lockheed L-749 Constellation on its delivery flight, Eastern pilot Dick Miller sets a new record time for a flight from Burbank, California, to Miami, Florida, of 6 hours, 54 minutes, 57 seconds.Bedwell, Don, "Beating the Odds," Aviation History, March 2016, p. 46. May 18 A Philippine Army Air Corps Douglas C-47 on its way to Paris to pick up Vice President of the Philippines Elpidio Quirino and bring him back to the Philippines crashes into the side of Mount Katanglad near Malaybalay, the Philippines, killing all 18 people on board.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description During an air show in Burlington, Iowa, a United States Navy F4U Corsair fighter crashes into a sandlot baseball game near the municipal airport and catches fire, killing its pilot and two teenagers on the ground and injuring seven other people. May 28 – British South American Airways conducts trials of non-stop flights from London to Bermuda using aerial refueling over the Azores. May 29 A United States Army Air Forces Douglas C-54D Skymaster crashes on approach to Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, at the end of a flight from Kimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, killing all 41 people on board. It is the worst aviation accident in Japanese history at the time.Aviation safety Network: Accident Description A Flugfélag Islands Douglas C-47A-25-DK on a domestic flight in Iceland from Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík to Akureyri Airport in Akureyri flies into the side of Hestfjall Mountain at the side of Hédinsfjördur, killing all 25 people on board. The wreckage is found the following day.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description The Douglas DC-4 Mainliner Lake Tahoe, operating as United Airlines Flight 521, fails to become airborne while attempting to take off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, runs off the end of the runway, and slams into an embankment, killing 42 of the 48 people on board. It is the worst aviation disaster in American history at the time, although the death toll will be exceeded in a crash the following day. May 30 – During a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Florida, an Eastern Air Lines DC-4 disintegrates in flight at an altitude of and crashes into a swamp near Baltimore, Maryland, killing all 53 people on board. It replaces the previous days United Airlines crash as the deadliest airline accident in American history. Among the dead are two relatives of a man who had died the previous day in the United crash. The 97 deaths in the two crashes exceed the entire commercial aviation death toll in the United States for 1946.New York Daily News Runway 18 Air Safety, May–June 1947, Chapter 197
June June 4 – Orient Airways, the first and only Muslim-owned airline in the British Raj, begins flight operations.