1935

Master Index

1937

1936 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

1936 Aviation Records

• Speed: (Italy), 440.68-mph, Francesco Agello, Macchi-Castoldi “MC-72”, 10/23/1934.

• Distance: (France), 6,587.45-miles, Bossouttrot and Rossi, “Blériot 110”, 3/26/1932.

• Altitude: (UK), 49,944-feet, S.R. Swain, “Bristol 138”, 9/28/1936.

• Weight: (Germany), 123,457-lbs, Dornier, “Do.X”.

• Engine Power: (Italy), 3,058-hp, Fiat, “AS.6”.

January 1936

• January — The Hawker “Hind” enters service with the Royal Air Force.

• January 4 — First flight of the Vought XSB2U-1 (BuNo 9725).

• January 10 — Civil transport version of the Heinkel He.111 bomber revealed in public for the first time at Berlin Tempelhof airport. Named “Dresden”, the He.111-V4 carried registration D-AHAO.

• January 13-January 14 — Howard Hughes makes record-breaking sprint across the country from Burbank, California to Newark, New Jersey in 9 hours, 26 minutes, 10 seconds at average speed of 259 mph. He utilizes a Northrop Gamma specially fitted with a 1,000 h.p. Wright SR-1820-G2 radial engine.

• January 17 — The USAAC orders 13 Boeing Y1B-17 “Flying Fortresses”, previously known by the manufacturer's designation, Model 299.

February 1936

• February — British Marine Aircraft Ltd. was established at Hamble, Hampshire to produce Sikorsky S-42-A flying boats under licence in the United Kingdom but nothing came of this. The company subsequently became Folland Aircraft Limited.

• February 13 — Imperial Airways commences airmail services to West Africa.

• February 14 — First flight of the Hawker “Hector”.

March 1936

• March — The Avro “Anson” enters service with No. 48 Squadron RAF.

• March 4 — First flight of the German airship LZ.129 “Hindenburg”.

• March 5 — First flight of the Supermarine “Spitfire” prototype (K5054).

• March 10 — First flight of the Fairey “Battle” prototype (K4303).

• March 17 — First flight of the Armstrong Whitworth “Whitley” prototype (K4586).

• March 23 — Imperial Airways begins scheduled flights between Hong Kong and Malaysia.

• March 28 — NACA begins operational use of newly-constructed 8-foot high speed tunnel (8-Foot HST) at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley, Virginia.

April 1936

• April — Aer Lingus, Ireland's national airline founded.

May 1936

• May 4-7 — Amy Johnson sets a new England-South Africa speed record of 3 days 6 hours 26 minutes in a Percival “Gull Six”.

• May 12 — First flight of the Messerschmitt “Bf.110”.

• May 14 — First flight of the Miles Whitney “Straight”.

• May 27 — First flight of the Fairey “Seafox”.

June 1936

• June 15 — First flight of the Vickers “Wellington” prototype (K4049).

• June 15 — First flight of the Westland “Lysander” prototype (K6127).

• June 21 — First flight of the Handley Page “Hampden” prototype (K4240).

• June 25 — First flight of the Bristol “Blenheim” prototype (K7033).

• June 26 — First flight of the Focke-Wulf “Fw.61” (D-EBVU), first fully-controllable helicopter.

July 1936

• July — The Fairey “Swordfish” enters service with No. 825 Squadron FAA.

• July 3 — First flight of the Short “Empire” prototype “RMA Canopus”.

• July 14 — The British Royal Air Force is re-organized on functional grounds and Fighter Command, Bomber Command, Coastal Command and Training Command are established.

• July 20 — Twenty Junkers “Ju.52's” ferry Spanish Nationalist troops from Morocco to Spain in the world's first major military airlift.

August 1936

• No data.

September 1936

• September 4-5 — Beryl Markham makes the first east-to-west solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman in a Percival “Vega Gull”, from Abingdon, Berkshire to Cape Breton Island.

• September 11 — “TB-3-4AM-34FRN” with A. B. Yumashev at the controls set a payload-to-altitude record: 5000 kg (11,023 lb) to 8116 m (26,627 ft).

• September 16 — “TB-3-4AM-34FRN” with A. B. Yumashev at the controls set a payload-to-altitude record: 10000 kg (22,046 lb) to 6605 m (21,670 ft).

• September 20 — “TB-3-4AM-34FRN” with A. B. Yumashev at the controls set a payload-to-altitude record: 12000 kg (26,455 lb) to 2700 m (8,858 ft).

October 1936

• October 28 — First flight of the Dornier “Do.19”.

• October 28 — “TB-3-4AM-34FRN” with A. B. Yumashev at the controls set a payload-to-altitude record: 5000 kg (11,023 lb) to 8980 m (29,462 ft).

November 1936

• November — The Fairey “Hendon” enters service with No. 38 Squadron RAF.

December 1936

• December 13 — First flight of the PZL.37 “Los”.

• December 21 — Eddie August Schneider, Bert Acosta, and Frederic Ives Lord, as the Yankee Squadron, travel by ship to fight in the Spanish Civil War with the Loyalists.

• December 21 — First flight of the Junkers “Ju.88-V1” prototype (D-AQEN).

• December 22 — First flight of the North American “XB-21” (AF 38-485).

• December 29 — CAUSA (Compania Aeronáutica Uruguaya S.A.) founded on 29 December, by the Uruguayan banker Luis J. Supervielle and Colonel Tydeo Larre Borges. Initial fleet was two Junkers Ju.52 floatplanes for services between Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

Works Cited

1. Gunston, Bill, et al. Chronicle of Aviation. Liberty, Missouri: JL Publishing Inc., 1992. 14-17
2. Parrish, Wayne W. (Publisher). "United States Chronology". 1962 Aerospace Yearbook, Forty-Third Annual Edition. Washington, DC: American Aviation Publications, Inc., 1962, 446-469.
3. Wikipedia, 1936 in aviation
4. Shupek, John (photos and card images), The Skytamer Archive. Skytamer.com, Whittier, CA