1956 in aviation
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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1956:
Contents |
Events
March
- March 10 - Lt Cdr Peter Twiss sets a new airspeed record in the Fairey Delta FD.2, also becoming the first person to exceed 1,000 mph. His top speed is 1,132 mph (1,821 km/h).
May
- May 21 - a B-52 Stratofortress drops the US's first air-dropped hydrogen bomb, a 3.75 MT device on Bikini Atoll
June
- June 20 - the US Navy commissions its first helicopter carrier, USS Thetis Bay
September
- September 7 - the Bell X-2 research aircraft is flown by Captain Iven C. Kincheloe to a new altitude record of 126,200 ft (38,466 m).
- September 24 - the Luftwaffe is re-formed in West Germany
- September 27 - Milburn Apt sets a new airspeed record in the Bell X-2, becoming the first person to exceed Mach 3, reaching a speed of 2,094 mph (3,350 km/h) before he lost control of the X-2 and died in the resulting crash
October
- October 1 - Chapter Two of the Experimental Aircraft Association is chartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana
- October 11 - a Vickers Valiant of No. 49 Squadron RAF drops Britain's first air-dropped atomic bomb, over Maralinga, South Australia
- October 31 - a US Navy R4D Skytrain is the first aircraft to land at the South Pole
November
- November 28 - the Ryan X-13 Vertijet makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight
First flights
April
- April 17 - SFECMAS Gerfaut II
May
July
August
September
October
- October 22 - XH-40 (Bell UH-1 prototype)
November
December
- December 17 - Short SC.1
- December 26 - F-106 Delta Dart
Entered service
February
March
- March 31 - A3D Skywarrior with VAH-1
April
- April 16 - F4D Skyray with VC-13
July
- August 31 - Avro Vulcan with No. 83 Squadron RAF
September
- September 24 - Tupolev Tu-104 with Aeroflot
December
- December 9 - The 463rd Troop Carrier Wing receives the Air Force's first C-130 Hercules.
Categories
Aviation timelines | 1956