1937

Master Index

1939

1938 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

1938 Aviation Records

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

• Distance: (Japan), 7,239-miles, Takahashi and Sekine, “Koken”, 5/16/1938.

• Altitude: (Italy), 56,046-feet, Mario Pezzi, “Caproni 161bis”, 10/22/1938.

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

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

1938

• Imperial Airways inaugurates scheduled service from London to Montreal.

• Pan American World Airways is banned from British airports out of fears that more advanced U.S. aircraft will drive Imperial out of the transatlantic market.

January 1938

• January — First flight of the Aichi “D3A”.

• January 5 — First flight of the Miles “Mentor” (L4932).

• January 20 — A Flight Refuelling Ltd Armstrong Whitworth “AW.23” refuels an Imperial Airways Short Empire over Southampton Water.

• January 22 — First flight of the Heinkel “He.100”.

• January 24 — First flight of the Armstrong Whitworth “Ensign”.

February 1938

• February 15-27 — Six USAAC Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortresses” make a goodwill tour of Latin America, traveling 12,000 miles (19,312 km) to Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Back.

• February 2 — First flight of the Junkers “Ju.88-V4”.

March 1938

• March 12 — First flight of the PZL.44 “Wicher”.

April 1938

• April — The Northrop “BT” enters service with VB-5 aboard USS Yorktown.

• April 20 — British Air Commodore Arthur Travers Harris makes a purchasing trip to the United States to select aircraft to expand the Royal Air Force. The Lockheed “Hudson” and North American “Harvard” are chosen.

May 1938

• May 12 — Three Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortresses” use dead reckoning navigation to intercept the ocean liner SS Rex more than 600 miles at sea.

• May 12 — The U.S. Navy commissions its sixth aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise.

• May 17 — The U.S. Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act, leading to the construction of the Essex class aircraft carriers.

• May 21 — First flight of the long-range seaplane Dornier “Do.26”.

June 1938

• June — The Westland “Lysander” enters service with No. 16 Squadron RAF.

• June — A prototype Heinkel “He.118” makes the first airborne tests of a turbojet engine.

• June 7 — First flight of the Douglas “DC-4E”.

• June 9 — The Nicaraguan Air Force is formed as the Fuerza Aérea de la Guarda Nacional.

• June 25 — Official public opening of Manchester Airport at Ringway (England) with extensive air display.

July 1938

• July — The Supermarine “Spitfire” enters service with No. 19 Squadron RAF.

• July 14 — Howard Hughes flies a Lockheed 14N around the world in 3 days 19 hours, to and from Floyd Bennett Field New York, more than halving the time that Wiley Post took to make the trip.

August 1938

• August — First flight of the Dornier “Do.217”.

• August — First flight of the PZL.46 “Sum”.

• August 10-11 — A Lufthansa Focke-Wulf “Fw.200” (D-ACON “Brandenberg”) makes a non-stop flight from Berlin to New York, via Hamburg, Glasgow, Newfoundland, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, taking 24 hours 36 minutes for the trip.

September 1938

• September — The Handley Page “Hampden” enters service with No. 49 Squadron RAF.

• September 10 — Germany prohibits all foreign air traffic in its airspace except along specific air corridors.

• September 29 — First flight of the Supermarine “Sea Otter”.

October 1938

• October — The Vickers “Wellington” enters service with No. 9 Squadron RAF.

• October — The Armstrong Whitworth “Ensign” enters service with Imperial Airways.

• October 2 — First flight of the Dewoitine “D.520”.

• October 11 — First flight of the Westland “Whirlwind” prototype (L6844).

• October 14 — First flight of the Curtiss “XP-40”.

• October 15 — First flight of the Bristol “Beaufort” prototype (L4441).

November 1938

• November — The Arado “Ar.196” enters service.

• November 5-7 — Non-stop flight by a pair of Vickers “Wellesleys” from Egypt to Darwin, Australia. This sets a new world distance record of 7,158 miles (11,520 km).

• November 28-30 — A Lufthansa “Fw.200” makes the airline's first flight to Japan, flying non-stop from Berlin to Tokyo via Basra, Karachi, and Hanoi. The 14,228 km (8,841 mile) flight breaks the distance record and takes 46 hours 18 minutes.

December 1938

• December 4 — First flight of the Miles “M.18”.

• December 10 — First flight of the Lockheed “Hudson”.

• December 12 — First flight of the Fairey “Albacore” prototype (L7074).

• December 22 — First flight of the de Havilland “Flamingo”.

• December 23 — First flight of the Blackburn “Roc” prototype (L3057).

• December 28 — First flight of the Blackburn “Botha”.

• December 31 — First flight of the Boeing “Model 307”.

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, 1938 in aviation
4. Shupek, John (photos and card images), The Skytamer Archive. Skytamer.com, Whittier, CA