1939 in aviation
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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1939:
Events
January
- January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve is formed
February
- February 9 - Alex Henshaw sets a new speed record for the round trip between England and Cape Town in 4 days 10 minutes in a Percival Mew
March
- March 30 - Hans Dieterle sets a new airspeed record in a Heinkel He 100 of 746 km/h (464 mph).
April
- April 28 - Vladimir Kokkinaki and Mikhail Godienko attempt a non-stop flight from the Soviet Union to New York but are forced down on Miscou Island in bad weather the next day.
June
- June 16 - Air France commences hourly flights from Paris to London
- June 28 - Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force is formed.
July 20
- July 6, Olga Klepikowa sets a world record by flying a glider 746 km (466 miles) from Moscow to Otradnoje.
- July 20 - first flight powered by liquid-fuelled rocket made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 176
August
- August 11 - Pan American World Airways begins scheduled flights from New York, New York to Southampton, England.
- August 26 - the Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph).
- August 27 - first flight made entirely on turbojet power made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 178
September
- September 1 - Germany invades Poland. The Luftwaffe plays a key tactical bombing role in neutralising Polish defences.
- September 3 - Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War II breaks out.
- September 3 - Paratroops are used for the first time, with German units dropped into Silesia, behind Polish lines.
- September 3 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys are used to drop propaganda leaflets into German cities.
- September 4 - first British bombs of the war dropped on German targets, with a Bristol Blenheim attacking the German fleet.
October
- October 8 - First RAF victory of World War II when a Lockheed Hudson shoots down a Dornier Do 18 over Jutland.
- October 16 - the Luftwaffe attacks its first British targets - Royal Navy warships in the Firth of Forth.
November
- the Luftwaffe begins dropping sea mines around the British coastline.
- November 24 - BOAC is formed by the merger of Imperial Airways and the original British Airways.
- November 30 - Soviet air raids on Helsinki and Viipuri mark the outbreak of the Winter War.
December
- December 18 - the Royal Air Force abandons daylight raids on Germany after a raid by Vickers Wellingtons takes heavy losses.
- December 26 - the first RAAF squadrons to join the war arrive in Britain
First flights
January
March
- March 31 - Miles Master production aircraft N 7408
April
May
June
July
- July 17 - Bristol Beaufighter prototype R 2052
- July 20 - Heinkel He 176, first aircraft powered by liquid-fuelled rocket
- July 25 - Avro Manchester prototype L 7246
August
- August 13 - Vickers Warwick
- August 27 - Heinkel He 178, first aircraft powered by turbojet
September
- September 14 - Sikorsky VS-300, first helicopter to enter mass production.
- September 24 - Handley Page Halifax H.P.57 prototype L 7244
December
Entered service
February
August
October
December
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