1953 in aviation
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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1953:
Events
The first year in which the world's airlines carried more than 50 million people (ICAO statement, 29 December)
January
- January 26 – The first meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association takes place at Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Curtis-Wright Field.
February
- No. 194 Squadron is commissioned as the Royal Air Force's first helicopter squadron
March
- March 10 – Czechoslovakian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s shoot down a USAF F-86 Sabre in Czech airspace.
- March 12 – an RAF Avro Lincoln is shot down by Soviet fighters over East Germany
- March 27 – the Royal Netherlands Air Force becomes a separate command
April
- April 1 – BEA and Air France introduce "tourist class" fares
- April 3 – BOAC introduces a weekly service to Tokyo by de Havilland Comet jet airliner
May
- May 18 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier
June
- June 18 – a USAF C-124 Globemaster crashes near Tokyo, killing 129 people in the worst air crash to date. It is the first crash in which over 100 people were killed.
- June 30 – A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.
July
- July 1 – air traffic control for West Germany is handed back to German authorities
- July 3 – first tethered flight by the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig VTOL aircraft
- July 8 – Sabena begins the first international helicopter service, linking Belgium, the Netherlands and France
- July 27 – end of the Korean War
September
- September 1 – a B-47 Stratojet is refueled by a KB-47 in the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling
- September 21 – North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok defects, bringing his MiG-15 with him to Seoul and collecting a $US 100,000 reward.
October
- October 10 – an RAF English Electric Canberra wins the Christchurch Centenary air race, flying 11,792 miles (18,976 km) from England to New Zealand in 23 hours 50 minutes
- October 20 – a TWA Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop, scheduled passenger flight across the United States
November
- November 20 – Scott Crossfield flies the Douglas Skyrocket past Mach 2, the first flight to reach this speed. The world airspeed record is now set at 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h)
First flights
March
- March 2 – Sud-Ouest SO 9000 Trident
April
May
- May 16 – Leduc O.21
- May 25 – North American YF-100A
June
- June 14 – Blackburn Beverley
September
October
- October 13 – North American X-10
- October 13 – Short Seamew
- October 24 – Convair YF-102
December
Entered service
January
- January 13 – Vickers Viscount with BEA
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Categories: Timeline of aviation | 1953