World Aviation in 1952

5 January
The first all cargo air service across the North Atlantic is inaugurated by Pan American World Airways (Pan-Am) using Douglas DC6s pressurised aircraft.

25 January
North American F86 Sabre jet fighters shoot down ten Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15s over North Korea.

1 April
All United States Air Force (USAF) combat aircraft are ready or almost already to carry atomic weapons.

11 April
No.14 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), equipped with de Havilland Vampire jet fighters, will be stationed with British forces in the Middle East area.

29 April
An Air France airliner is attacked by Russian jet fighters near Koennern in the Frankfurt-Berlin international air corridor.

1 May
Pan American World Airways inaugurates its Rainbow tourist fare services to Europe with Douglas DC6 airliners.

16 June
Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15 jet fighters attack a Swedish Consolidated Catalina amphibian.

17 June
The world's largest non-rigid airship (ZPN1) is delivered by the Goodyear Aircraft Company to the United States Navy (USN).

23 June
A civil aviation agreement between Britain and Denmark is signed in London.

1 July
The Portuguese Air Force is formed, with the unification of Portuguese Arma da Aeronautica and Aviacao Maritima.

4-17 July
58 Republic F84 Thunderjets make a trans-ocean flight of 10,895 miles, with seven stops, from Georgia in the United States to Yokota in Japan.

15-31 July
The first helicopter crossing of the North Atlantic is made by by Captain Vincent H. McGovern and Lieutenant Harold Moore, flying Sikorsky S55 helicopters from Massachusetts to Ayrshire in 42 hours 25 minutes.

19 July
The United States Air Force (USAF) announces that it has successfully flown free balloons at controlled constant altitudes in the stratosphere, for periods of over 3 days.

29 July
The first non-stop transpacific flight by a jet aircraft is completed by a North American RB45 flying from Alaska to Japan.

11 August
The United States and Japan sign a civil aviation agreement.

13 August
The United States Air Force (USAF) announces the full-scale production of the Boeing B52 Stratofortress aircraft.

26 August
A Belfast to Gander to Belfast point to point record is set by Wing Commander R.P. Beamont in an English Electric Canberra. He covers 4,144 miles in 10 hours 3 minutes.

2 September
Qantas Empire Airways inaugurates a service from Sydney to Johannesburg via Perth, the Cocos Islands and Mauritius.

26 September
The German Government approves the formation of a company to make preparations for establishing and equipping a new Lufthansa airline.

30 September
The Bell GAM-63 Rascal air-to-surface missile is launched for the first time.

7 October
A Boeing B29 Superfortress bomber is shot down by Russian fighters off Japan.

8 October
A United States ambulance aircraft is attacked by Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15s over Koennern.

14 October
The longest flight over water by single a engined jet fighter is completed when 75 Republic F84s flying 2,575 miles from Midway Island to Japan with air refuelling.

20 October
Pan American World Airways orders three de Havilland Comet IIIs.

22 October
Details about the Rolls Royce Conway by-pass jet engine are released.

2 November
A F3D Skynight destroys a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15 - the first time a jet fighter intercepts at night successfully.

19 November
Captain J. Slade Nash establishes a new world speed record in a F86D Sabre jet, averaging 698mph with four runs over 3 kilometres.

19-20 November
Arlid Viking of Scandinavian Air Lines System Douglas DC6B flies from Los Angeles to Copenhagen in 28 hours 7 minutes.

3 December
A Douglas C47 transport aircraft is forced down by Soviet fighters in Hungarian territory.

5-6 December
A Scandinavian Air Lines System Douglas DC6B flies from Los Angeles to Copenhagen in 22 hours.

16 December
Six Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15s are shot down by United States North American F86 Sabres over North Korea. The United States Air Force activates its first helicopter squadron.

20 December
86 of 116 men onboard are killed when a Douglas C124 Globemaster crashes at Moses Lake airfield.

29 December
A civil aviation agreement between Britain and Japan is signed.