1966 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1966:

Years in aviation: 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Centuries: 19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
Years: 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

Events

January

February

  • In the 1966 Defence White Paper, the British Labour government announces that the Royal Navy′s planned CVA-01 aircraft carrier will not be built because of its expense. It also declares that the traditional strike, reconnaissance, air defense, and airborne early warning functions of carrier-based aircraft can be carried out more cheaply by shore-based Royal Air Force aircraft, that the use of cruiser- and frigate-based helicopters would be a cheaper means of providing anti-submarine defense of ships, and that ship-launched antiship missiles could replace carrier planes in the anti-ship role.[7]
  • February 2
  • February 4 All Nippon Airways Flight 60 crashes into Tokyo Bay while on night approach to Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, killing all 133 people on board. It is the worst death toll in a single-aircraft accident in history at the time, and will remain so until 1969.
  • February 8 Freddie Laker founds Laker Airways
  • February 17 Aeroflot Flight 65, a Tupolev Tu-114, crashes on takeoff in deteriorating weather at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, killing 21 and injuring at least 18, after its crew attempts to take off without realizing that snow has not been fully cleared from the runway and its wing strikes a sowban during its takeoff roll, forcing two of its propellers to strike the runway, after which it veers off the runway and catches fire. It is the only fatal crash involving the long-range turboprop Tu-114.
  • February 28 A National Aeronautics and Space Administration T-38 Talon crashes at Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett, the prime crew for Gemini 9, scheduled to launch in early June.

March

April

  • The U.S. Navy moves Yankee Station northward in the Gulf of Tonkin.[6]
  • Pan American World Airways signs a contract with the Boeing Company for the construction of 25 Boeing 747 airliners. It is the world's first order for wide-body airliners.[15]
  • Tunisair inaugurates service between Tunis, Tunisia, and Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany. It had last offered service on the route between October 1961 and March 1962.
  • April 12
    • U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortresses strike targets in North Vietnam for the first time.[6]
    • The U.S. Air Force's second North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – reaches a maximum speed of Mach 3.08 and maintains it for 20 minutes. It is the highest Mach number ever reached by an XB-70.
  • April 13 President of Iraq Abdul Salam Arif dies in the crash of a Royal Iraqi Air Force de Havilland DH.104 Dove 1 in southern Iraq.
  • April 19 U.S. Navy aircraft strike the coal port of Cam Pha, North Vietnam, only 35 miles (56 km) from North Vietnam's border with the People's Republic of China.[6]
  • April 23 American aircraft encounter MiG fighters in large numbers over North Vietnam.[6]

May

  • Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s start to appear in the skies over Vietnam.
  • May 1
    • While ascending in the balloon Strato Jump III to attempt to set a new world skydiving altitude record of over 120,000 feet (36,576 meters), Nicholas Piantanida is fatally injured when his pressure suit depressurizes at an altitude of about 57,000 feet (17,374 meters). Although ground controllers detach the gondola from the balloon at an altitude of 56,000 feet (17,069 meters) and return it to earth in a 25-minute parachute descent with Piantanida on board, Piantanida suffers brain damage and never emerges from a coma. He will die on August 29.
    • Jamaica Air Service Ltd. inaugurates service from Jamaica to Miami, Florida, and New York City.
  • May 19 – The United States Air Force′s second North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – covers 2,400 miles in 91 minutes of flight, flying at Mach 3 for 32 minutes – the longest continuous time at Mach 3 ever achieved by an XB-70 – and reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3.06.
  • May 23–26 A new Learjet 24 makes a round-the-world demonstration flight to exhibit its capabilities. The total flight time for the trip is 50 hours and 20 minutes.

June

  • The Indian Air Force begins re-arming to replace losses from the previous year's war with Pakistan.
  • The U.S. Army begins testing the Remote Image Intensifier System, a low-light-level television system on UH-1C attack helicopters known as "Batships" in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam, hoping to improve night capabilities against Viet Cong forces. The test will conclude in November with the system found to be unreliable.[16]
  • June 1 Alisarda begins scheduled service.
  • June 3 A Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C on its first test flight crashes at Felthorpe, Norfolk, England, killing the entire four-man crew.
  • June 6 – Outfitted with test sensors, the United States Air Force′s second North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – conducts a sonic boom test, reaching Mach 3.05 at an altitude of 72,000 feet (21,946 meters).
  • June 7 Robert and Joan Wallick set a round-the-world flight record.
  • June 8 During a publicity photo shoot of aircraft powered by General Electric engines in which the U.S. Air Force's second XB-70A research aircraft – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – flies in formation with an F-4 Phantom II, an F-5 Freedom Fighter, an F-104 Starfighter, and a T-38 Talon at an altitude of about 25,000 feet (7,620 meters), the F-104 collides with the XB-70A. The F-104 explodes, killing its pilot, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief test pilot Joseph A. Walker. The XB-70A crashes and is destroyed. The XB-70A's copilot is killed, while its pilot, Alvin S. White ejects and suffers serious injuries. The crash leaves only one XB-70A – Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – in existence.
  • June 12 Escorting A-4 Skyhawks from the attack aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) during a bombing raid northwest of Haiphong, North Vietnam, U.S. Navy Commander Harold L. Marr of Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211) scores the first kill by an F-8 Crusader, shooting down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 (NATO reporting name "Fresco") with an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile.[17]
  • June 20 Sheila Scott completes a solo round-the-world flight.
  • June 29

July

August

September

October

November

December

First flights

January

  • January 10 Bell Model 206 JetRanger[32]
  • January 24 Learjet 24
  • January 27 Fairchild FH-227

February

March

  • March 5 Lockheed D-21 Drone
  • March 17 Bell X-22[35]
  • March 18 Wassmer WA-50[34]

April

May

June

July

August

October

November

December

Entered service

January

July

September

Retirements

References

  1. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, pp. 60–61.
  2. Haulman, Daniel L., One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903–2002, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 2003, no ISBN number, p. 97.
  3. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, p. 61.
  4. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, pp. 61–62.
  5. planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1960s
  6. Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 0-87021-559-0, p. 154.
  7. Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-076-2, p. 27.
  8. Ryan, Craig (2003). The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 258–269. ISBN 1-55750-732-5.
  9. Ryan, Craig (2003). Magnificent Failure: Free Fall from the Edge of Space. Smithsonian Books. ISBN 978-1588341419.
  10. Betancourt, Mark (July 2012). "The 120,000-Foot Leap". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  11. "Chutist Changes Mind 123,500 Feet in Sky". The New York Times. February 2, 1966. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  12. Polmar, Norman, "It's a Plane...a Helicopter...a Phrog!", Naval History, October 2016, p. 64.
  13. Haulman, Daniel L., One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903–2002, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 2003, no ISBN number, p. 98.
  14. Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description
  15. Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 58.
  16. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, pp. 67-68.
  17. Hollway, Don, "Fox Two!", Aviation History, March 2013, p. 57.
  18. Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description
  19. Hammel, Eric, Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992, ISBN 0-684-19390-6, p. 11.
  20. Yearbook of the United Nations 1966 (excerpt), New York: United Nations Office of Public Information, 31 December 1966.
  21. Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description
  22. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, p. 69.
  23. Potter, E. B., ed., Sea Power: A Naval History, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1981, ISBN 0-87021-607-4, p. 374.
  24. Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 0-87021-559-0, p. 155.
  25. Arab-Israeli Wars and Conflicts, The History Guy
  26. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, p. 72.
  27. "Survival at High Altitudes: Wheel-Well Passengers" (PDF). FAA. October 1996. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  28. Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description
  29. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, pp. 69–70.
  30. Hammel, Eric, Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992, ISBN 0-684-19390-6, p. 20.
  31. Haulman, Daniel L., One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903–2002, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 2003, no ISBN number, p. 99.
  32. David, Donald, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 111.
  33. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 54.
  34. Taylor 1966, p. 2
  35. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 116.
  36. Taylor 1967, p. 247
  37. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 103.
  38. Taylor 1967, p. iv
  39. Komissarov, Sergey (2002). Russia's Ekranoplans: the Caspian Sea Monster and other WiG craft. Hinkley: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1857801460.
  40. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 10.
  41. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 101.
  42. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 102.
  • Taylor, John W. R. (1966). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1966–67. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Taylor, John W. R. (1967). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1967–68. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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