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 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 hydrogen bomb, a 3.75 MT device on (Bikini Atoll) Central Pacific, a first such air drop.
June
- June 20 - the US Navy commissions its first helicopter carrier, USS Thetis Bay
- June 30 - a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 and a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA, killing all 128 passengers and crew aboard both airplanes in the deadliest air disaster in history at the time; the crash triggers sweeping changes in the regulations governing cross-country flight over the United States, which would include the creation of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA, later renamed Federal Aviation Administration).
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 the FRG (West Germany)
- September 27 - Milburn Apt sets a new air speed 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
- April 21 - F5D Skylancer.
May
July
August
September
October
- October 22 - XH-40 (Bell UH-1 prototype)
November
December
Entered service
February
March
- March 31 - A3D Skywarrior with VAH-1
April
- April 16 - F4D Skyray with VC-13
July
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.
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