This is a list of aviation-related events from 1949:
Events Aerolíneas Argentinas is established. Royal Jordanian Air Force is formed as the Arab League Air Force. Republic of Korea Air Force is formed. Lebanese Air Force is formed. The de Havilland Sea Hornets of No. 801 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, embark aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier , becoming the first British twin-engined single-seat aircraft to operate from an aircraft carrier.Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, , p. 103. Bahrain-based Gulf Aviation, the forerunner of Gulf Air, is founded. It will begin flight operations in July 1950. The American Section of the International League of Aviators awards the National Trophy, a Harmon Trophy awarded from 1926 to 1938 to the outstanding aviator of the year in each of the 21 member countries of the now-defunct League and since 1945 by the American Section, for the last time. The trophies it presented from 1945 to 1949 stirred much controversy, with the awards going largely unrecognized. The crew of a Maszovlet Lisiunov Li-2P (registration HA-LIE) illegally flies the airliner out of Hungary and lands at Munich in Allied-occupied Germany.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description Early 1949 – The Royal Navy experiments with landing undercarriage-less aircraft aboard aircraft carriers, landing an experimental de Havilland Sea Vampire F.21 with strengthened undersides with its landing gear retracted aboard . Warrior has rubberized deck surfaces installed for the experiments.Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, , p. 108. Mid-1949 – The United States Air Force consists of 48 groups.Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 103.
January The United States force of atomic bomb assembly teams has risen from two in mid-1948 to seven. Each atomic bomb requires two days to be assembled for use.Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 12. January 2 – Taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle, in fog after an only partially successful de-icing, a Seattle Air Charter Douglas C-47A-50-DL Skytrain (registration NC79025) drags its left wing along the ground just after becoming airborne, lands outside the runway, crashes into a hangar, and bursts into flames, killing 14 of the 30 people on board.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description January 4 – Twenty-two hijackers commandeer a Maszovlet Douglas C-47 Skytrain with 25 people aboard during a domestic flight over Hungary from Pécs to Budapest and force it to fly them to Munich in the American occupation zone in Allied-occupied Germany.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description January 7 – On the last day of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, five Royal Egyptian Air Force Supermarine Spitfires strafe an Israeli motorized column near Rafah, setting three trucks on fire before departing. When four Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires of No. 208 Squadron arrive on the scene to investigate, the column mistakes them for additional Egyptian aircraft and shoots one down. Two Israeli Air Force Spitfires then arrive, mistake the three surviving RAF Spitfires for Egyptian aircraft, and shoot all three of them down. Seven British Hawker Tempests of No. 213 Squadron, eight Tempests of No. 6 Squadron and four more Spitfires of No. 208 Squadron sent to search for the four missing No. 208 Squadron fighters encounter four Israeli Spitfires over Rafah, and in the ensuring dogfight the Israelis shoot down one No. 213 Squadron Tempest.O'Connor, Derek, "Spitfire vs. Spitfire", Aviation History, November 2014, pp. 54-55, 57-58. January 9 – Chuck Yeager makes the only conventional take-off from a runway ever attempted in a Bell X-1, then climbs to in 90 seconds. January 12 – Flying the Beechcraft 35 Bonanza Waikiki Beech, William P. "Bill" Odom takes off from Hickam Field, Hawaii, intending to set a new light-plane nonstop distance record by flying to Teterboro, New Jersey. He encounters bad weather near Reno, Nevada, that forces him to turn around and land at Oakland, California. Although falling well short of his goal, he nonetheless sets a new light-plane nonstop distance flying record by flying from Hawaii to Oakland. He has remained airborne for 22 hours 6 minutes. January 16 – During a one-hour domestic flight in India from Jammu to Srinagar, a Dalmia Jain Airways Douglas C-47B-5-DK Skytrain (registration VT-CDZ) disappears near Banihal Pass with the loss of all 13 people on board.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description January 17 – The British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV Star Ariel (G-AGRE) disappears without trace on a flight from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica, with the loss of all 20 people on board. January 20 – United States Navy aircraft of Carrier Air Group 8 perform a flyover of President Harry Truman's inauguration ceremony. January 30 – Six hijackers take over a China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) airliner during a domestic flight over China from Shanghai to Qingdao (Tsingtao) and force it to fly them to Tainan on Taiwan.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description
February El Al purchases its first airliners, two Douglas DC-4s that it buys from American Airlines. Previously, El Al had used only leased airliners. February 1 – In the United Kingdom, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force is renamed the Women's Royal Air Force.rafmuseum.org.uk Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) 1939–1949 February 3 – A United States Navy Lockheed R6O Constitution sets a new record for the number of people carried on a single nonstop flight across the continental United States, taking 96 people – 74 members of the press, four other passengers, and a crew of 18 – on a 9-hour 35-minute flight from Moffett Field, California, to Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. The flight also sets a new record for the number of passengers (exclusive of crew members) carried on such a flight.Polmar, Norman, "The Really Big One", Naval History, December 2013, p. 65. February 8 A Danish Air Lines Vickers 628 Viking 1B (registration OY-DLU) disappears on approach to Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the loss of all 27 people on board. Its wreckage is found a month later on the sea bottom in Swedish waters in the Kattegat off Barsebäck, Sweden, at a depth of . At the time, it is both the deadliest aviation accident in Swedish history and the deadliest accident involving any model of the Vickers Viking.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description The United States Air Force′s Boeing XB-47, prototype of the B-47 Stratojet bomber, flies from Moses Lake Air Force Base, Washington, to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, in 3 hours 46 minutes at an average speed of 607 mph.Wooldridge, E. T., "History of the Flying Wing: The Northrop Bombers," century-of-flight.net, undated. February 9 – The U.S. Air Force's Northrop YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber prototype flies from Muroc Air Force Base, California, to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, in 4 hours 25 minutes at an average speed of 511 mph. February 10 – A Faucett Perú Douglas C-47B-15-DK Skytrain (registration OB-PAV-223) crashes into a mountain peak on approach to Huánuco Airport in Huánuco, Peru, killing all 16 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Peruvian history at the time.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description February 19 – A British European Airways Douglas Dakota and a Royal Air Force Avro Anson T21 collide in clear weather over Exhall, England. Both aircraft crash, killing all 10 people on the Dakota and the entire four-man crew of the Anson. February 24 After the crew of a Cathay Pacific Airways Douglas C-47A-90-DL Skytrain (registration VR-HDG) aborts a landing at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong and begins a go-around in poor visibility, the aircraft crashes into a hillside at North Point near Braemar Reservoir, killing all 23 people on board. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in Hong Kong's history at the time.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description The left main undercarriage of a TAM Perú Douglas DC-3 collapses during its takeoff roll at Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport in Cusco, Peru, with 26 people aboard. The No. 1 propeller detaches and cuts through the fuselage, badly injuring the captain, and the airliner catches fire after sliding to a halt. The crash and fire kill 22 of the 26 people on board, including the captain, who later dies of his injuries. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Peruvian history at the time, exceeding the death toll in the Faucett Perú crash two weeks earlier.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description February 25 The United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress Global Queen takes off from Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, Texas, and flies eastward to attempt to become the first airplane to make a non-stop flight around the world, but its attempt fails when an engine fire forces it to land at Lajes Field in the Azores.This Day in Aviation: Tag Archives: Boeing B-50 Superfortress The Douglas Skyrocket makes its first rocket-powered flight.Hallion, Richard P., "Skyrocketing Through Mach 2: How Scott Crossfield Scored Aviation's Double-Sonic Prize", Aviation History, January 2014, p. 32. The U.S. Navy Martin JRM-2 Mars flying boat Caroline Mars sets a record for the number of people carried on a single flight, transporting 202 men and a crew of four from Alameda to San Diego, California. It then breaks the record on the return flight the same day, carrying 218 men and a crew of four from San Diego to Alameda. February 26 – Replacing Global Queen, the B-50A Superfortress Lucky Lady II of the U.S. Air Force's 43rd Bombardment Group takes off from Carswell Air Force Base and flies eastward to begin an attempt to become the first airplane to circle the world nonstop.
March March 2 – The United States Air Force 43rd Bombardment Group Boeing B-50A Superfortress Lucky Lady II passes the control tower at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the first airplane to circle the world nonstop. Lucky Lady II had taken off from Carswell on February 26 and flown eastward at altitudes between , refueling from KB-29M Superfortress tankers four times (over the Azores, the Arabian Peninsula, the Philippines, and Hawaii), and had made the flight in 94 hours 1 minute at an average ground speed of , traveling . March 4 – The U.S. Navy Martin JRM-2 Mars flying boat Caroline Mars sets another record for the number of people carried on a single flight, transporting 263 passengers and a crew of six on a 2-hour 41-minute trip from San Diego to Alameda California. March 6–8 – Flying the Beechcraft 35 Bonanza Waikiki Beech, William P. "Bill" Odom sets a light-plane nonstop distance record, flying from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Teterboro, New Jersey, in 36 hours 1 minute at an average speed of . He wears a business suit for the flight and carries an electric razor with him so that he can arrive at Teterboro cleanshaven. March 7 – Aden Airways is founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). It will begin flight operations in October. March 9 – Việt Minh leader Ho Chi Minh orders the organization of an Air Force Research Committee for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. March 10 – Its centre of gravity too far aft for it to remain stable in the air, a Queensland Airlines Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar (registration VH-BAG) stalls immediately after takeoff from Coolangatta Airport in Bilinga, Queensland, Australia, and crashes into a swamp, killing all 21 people on board.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description