This is a list of

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

-related events from 1923:

Events

* The

Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation Edson Fessenden Gallaudet (April 21, 1871 in Washington, D.C. – July 1, 1945 in Pine Orchard, Connecticut) was a pioneer in the field of aviation. He was best known for his development of practical airfoils and aircraft propulsion syst ...

is absorbed by the

Consolidated Aircraft Corporation The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...

. * During 1923, French Breguet 14T bis Sanitaire

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

s evacuate 870 wounded French personnel from the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

and

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

January

Air Union Air Union was a French airline established January 1, 1923, as the result of a merger between the airlines ''Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes'' and '' Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens''. Air Union was merged with four other French airli ...

is created by the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of ''

Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes ''Compagnie des messageries aériennes'' was a pioneering French airline which was in operation from 1919–23, when it was merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union. History Compagnie des messageries aériennes was established Febru ...

'' (CMA) with ''

Grands Express Aériens The Compagnie des ''Grands Express Aériens'' was a pioneering French airline established 20 March 1919 and operating until merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes to form Air Union on 1 January 1923. Headquartered at 3, Rue d'Anjou, P ...

'' (CGEA). * January 1 **The French aviator

Joseph Sadi-Lecointe Joseph Sadi-Lecointe (1891 – 1944) was a French aviator, best known for breaking a number of speed and altitude records in the 1920s. Biography Sadi-Lecointe was born on 11 July 1891 at Saint-Germain-sur-Bresle. He learned to fly at the Ze ...

sets a new air speed record, averaging 335 km/hr (208 mph) at

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location Istr ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. **

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

′s Air Board is officially absorbed into the

Department of National Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

. The

Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

becomes responsible for the control and regulation of all

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

in Canada. * January 9 or 17 – The

Cierva C.4 __NOTOC__ The Cierva C.4 was an experimental autogiro built by Juan de la Cierva in Spain in 1922 which early the following year became the first autogyro to fly successfully. Failures of De la Cierva's attempts to compensate for dissymmetry of l ...

, designed by Juan de la Cierva y Cordoniu and piloted by

Alejandro Gomez Spencer Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre (French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr ( ...

, makes its first flight, covering a distance of about 180 meters (590 feet) at Cuatro Vientos airfield in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is the first flight by an

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

, and the first stable flight by any form of

rotary-wing A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The Internati ...

aircraft. * January 13 – The Aeromarine Airways

Aeromarine 75 The twin-engine F5L was one of the Felixstowe F series of flying boats developed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, England, during the First World War for production in America. A civilian version of the airc ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

''Columbus'' suffers engine failure during a flight from

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and lands in the

Florida Strait The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait ( es, Estrecho de Florida) is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between th ...

. Buffeted by 10-to-15-foot (3-to-4.5-meter) waves, it begins to fill with water. Four passengers die, but the ferry ship ''H. M. Flagler'' saves the other three passengers and both crew members. * January 20 – After suffering an engine failure in flight, the

uses

autorotation Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. Bensen, Igor ...

to land without damage. * January 24 **The

Government of Italy The government of Italy is in the form of a democratic republic, and was established by a constitution in 1948. It consists of legislative, executive, and judicial subdivisions, as well as a Head of State, or President. The Italian Constitutio ...

establishes a Commission for the Air Force, with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

as commissioner and

Aldo Finzi Aldo Finzi may refer to: *Aldo Finzi (composer) (1897–1945), Italian classical music composer *Aldo Finzi (politician) Aldo Finzi (Legnago, 20 April 1891 – Rome, 24 March 1944) was a Jewish-Italian politician and soldier. Finzi started out h ...

as his deputy.Gooch, John, ''Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940'', Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 54. **The Italian press reports that in a test of the Italian armed forces′ ability to get all their airplanes into the air at the same time and keep them flying for one hour, only 76 were able to do so. The armed forces′ own statistics report that the

Italian Royal Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

had 237 aircraft in working order and the ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

'' (Italian Royal Navy) had 48. The discrepancy arises from

′s to depict his predecessors in the Italian government as militarily incompetent. * January 31 – The

flies a 4-kilometer (2.5-

statute mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

) circuit at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain.

February

* The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

conducts operations in southern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

against uprisings led by Sheik Mahmud Barzenci. * A British pilot, William Jordan, lands a

Mitsubishi 1MF The Mitsubishi 1MF was a Japanese carrier fighter aircraft of the 1920s. Designed for the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company by the British aircraft designer Herbert Smith, the 1MF, also known as the Navy Type 10 Carrier Fighter was operated by the ...

fighter on the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

s new

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

''Hōshō'', then takes off from ''Hōshō''. It is the first landing on and first take off from a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese aircraft carrier. * The title "Royal" is granted to the

. The

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

will approve the title on 1 April 1924, establishing the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

. * February 1 – The Danish Army Flying Corps is established. * February 15 – The French aviator

sets a new world air speed record, averaging 377 km/hr (234 mph) at

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France.

March

* The British

Sempill Mission The Sempill Mission was a British naval aviation technical mission led by Captain William Forbes-Sempill. and sent to Japan in September 1921, with the objective of helping the Imperial Japanese Navy develop its aeronaval forces. The mission con ...

, led by Sir William Francis Forbes-Sempill, returns to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. During its 18-month stay in Japan, the Mission has greatly improved

aviation training and understanding of

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

operations and the latest naval aviation tactics and technology, and the aircraft it brought to Japan will inspire the design of a number of Japanese naval aircraft of the 1920s. *

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Arturo Alessandri Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...

separates the Chilean naval aviation arm from the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and a ...

air corps, placing it under

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the Wars ...

control.Scheina, Robert L., ''Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, , p. 199. * The

installs its first

aircraft catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...

aboard the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

''Almirante Latorre''. * March 16 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Shunichi Kira Shun'ichi or Shunichi (written: or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player and manager *, Japanese academic *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese sprint canoeist *, Japanese engineer *, ...

lands a

fighter on the

''Hōshō'', becoming the first Japanese pilot to land on an aircraft carrier. * March 17 **

Dobrolyot Dobrolyot, or sometimes Dobrolet (English: "good years"), was an early Soviet airline, with the name drawn from part of its full name (Добровольного or Dobrovol'nogo). The Russian Society of Voluntary Air Fleet (Российско� ...

is formed as the first

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

civil aviation service; it will become part of the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

. ** The

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

authorizes

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

aircraft to drop

calcium arsenate Calcium arsenate is the inorganic compound with the formula Ca3(AsO4)2. A colourless salt, it was originally used as a pesticide and as a germicide. It is highly soluble in water, in contrast to lead arsenate, which makes it more toxic. The min ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

fields in order to kill

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They b ...

s. * March 20 –

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

forms the Salvadoran Army Air Force. It later will become the

Salvadoran Air Force The Salvadoran Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña, abbreviated FAS) is the air force component of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, and is an independent branch from the army and navy. Early history The Salvadoran Army Air Force ('' es, ...

. * March 28 – The

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

′s air arm, the ''Corpo Aeronautico Militare'', becomes an independent air force, the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Royal Air Force).

April

* April 1 – The

abandons the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

as the basic organizational unit for those of its aircraft operating from

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

ships, reorganizing them into six-plane

flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...

. * April 10 – Daimler Airways begins the first scheduled

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

service between

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

(via

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

). * April 16–17 –

John Arthur Macready John Arthur Macready (October 14, 1887 – September 15, 1979) was an American test pilot and aviator. He was the only three-time recipient of the Mackay Trophy, receiving the trophy three consecutive years. Macready won the MacKay Trophy thr ...

and

Oakley G. Kelly Oakley George Kelly (December 3, 1891 – June 5, 1966) was a record setting pilot for the United States Army Air Service. Biography He was born on December 3, 1891 in Pennsylvania and grew up in Grove City. In May 1922, Lieutenant Oakley G. K ...

establish a new endurance record, staying aloft for 36 hours 5 minutes in a

Fokker T-2 The Fokker F.IV was an airliner designed in the Netherlands in the early 1920s, with only two ever made, both for the United States Army Air Service (designated T-2). Design and development The Fokker F.IV was constructed in typical Fokker styl ...

, covering a distance of 2,518 miles (4,052 km).

May

* May 1 – enters service with the

. She is the first ship designed from the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

up as an

and the first aircraft carrier with an island

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

to enter service. * May 2–3 –

and

complete the first non-stop flight across the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, flying from Hempstead,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, covering nearly 2,800 miles (4,509 km) in 27 hours in a

at an average speed of over 100 mph (161 km/hr). * May 3 – The Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation is formed by

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (russian: И́горь Ива́нович Сико́рский, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvitʃ sʲɪˈkorskʲɪj, a=Ru-Igor Sikorsky.ogg, tr. ''Ígor' Ivánovich Sikórskiy''; May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972)Fortie ...

at a

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

chicken farm. * May 10 –

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

establishes a School of Naval Aviation in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

near Galeão beach on

Governador Island Governador Island (Ilha do Governador, in Portuguese; literally Governor's Island, in English) is the largest island in Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a population of about 211,018 inhabitants, in a small area of . Rio de Jane ...

Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

eventually will be constructed on the site. * May 14 – A

Farman F.60 Goliath The Farman F.60 Goliath was a French airliner and bomber produced by the Farman Aviation Works from 1919. It was instrumental in the creation of early airlines and commercial routes in Europe after World War I. Design and development The ''G ...

operated by

on a flight from Paris-Le Bourget Airport outside

, to

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, loses a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

in flight, crashes near

Monsures Monsures () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Monsures is situated on the D210 and the D109 roads, some south of Amiens, in the southernmost point of the département, in the valley of the ...

, France, and is destroyed by fire. All six people on board die. * May 21 – A

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

and two Curtiss scout aircraft of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

make a flight of just under 500 miles (805 km) along the coast of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

from Puerto Militar to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. It is a significant step forward in the development of Argentine aviation. * May 23 – The

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

airline

SABENA The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

is formed, adding new European routes to

SNETA The ''Syndicat national d'Etude des Transports Aériens'' ("National Union of Study of Aerial Transport"), known by its acronym SNETA, was a Belgian airline which operated from 1919 to 1923 in order to pioneer commercial aviation in Belgium. In 1923 ...

's routes in

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

that it takes over. * May 29 –

Reuben Fleet Reuben Hollis Fleet (March 6, 1887 – October 29, 1975) was an American aviation pioneer, industrialist and army officer. Fleet founded and led several corporations, including Consolidated Aircraft. Birth and early career Fleet was born on Mar ...

founds

June

* The

demonstrates an

aerial refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

system using two

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Air ...

aircraft. The system employs a hose with an on/off nozzle and large funnels. * The admirals′ committee of the ''

'' (Italian Royal Navy) pronounces itself in favor of the construction of at least one

to operate with the Italian fleet, providing the fleet with air defense as well as an offensive aerial strike capability. * June 14 –

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

forms its first military aviation services, fore-runners of the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

July

* Twenty-one aircraft compete in the ''Grand Prix de Motoaviette'' – a competition at

Buc, Yvelines Buc () is a commune in the Yvelines department and Île-de-France region of north central France. Geography Buc is located some 20 km south-west of central Paris and 3 km south of Versailles. The old town lies in the valley of the Riv ...

, France, open to any aircraft with a

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

of less than 250 kilograms (551 pounds), offering a 125,000 FF prize for the fastest flight of 30 laps around a 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) course. Lucien Coupet wins in a

Salmson 3 Ad The Salmson AD.3 or Salmson 3 Ad was a French designed, three-cylinder, air-cooled radial aero engine. It was also produced by British Salmson in Great Britain during the 1920s. Applications (3 Ad) * Adaridi AD 3 *Farman Aviette * Peyret-Nessler ...

-powered

Farman Aviette The Farman Moustique is a family of France, French monoplanes built by the Farman, Société des Aéroplanes Henry et Maurice Farman at Boulogne-Billancourt, Billancourt. Shortly after the end of World War I, Farman introduced a low powered sin ...

, covering 310 kilometers (192.5 miles) in 4 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds.

August

* The ''

'' (Italian Royal Air Force) participates in

maneuvers south of

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

intended to test the capabilities of the army's ''celeri'' divisions. The air force component of the maneuvers tests aerial reconnaissance capabilities and the effectiveness of attacks on enemy troops by 32 fighter aircraft and of night attacks against bridges by two bombers. Although the reconnaissance is deemed "indispensable," it is not effective due to

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

problems. The fighter and night bombing attacks are more successful, although the ground troops′ failure to attempt to take cover from or evade air attack is of significant help to the fighters. * Personnel from the

help to install a TS-1

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

fighter on the foredeck of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, as the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

begins to experiment with the operation of

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

s from

s. The TS-1 flies successfully, but its presence interferes with ''Charles Ausburn''s routine too much, and the idea is dropped. *August 6 **The eighth annual

Aerial Derby The Aerial Derby was an air race in the United Kingdom sponsored by the '' Daily Mail'' in which the competitors flew a circuit around London. It was first held in 1912, with subsequent races in 1913 and 1914. Suspended during the First World Wa ...

is held, sponsored by the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

. Thirteen participants fly over a 99.5-mile (160-kilometer) circuit beginning and ending at

with control points at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

, and

West Thurrock West Thurrock is an area, former civil parish and traditional Church of England parish in Thurrock, Essex, England, located 17.5 miles (28.1 km) east south-east of Charing Cross, London. In 1931 the parish had a population of 5,153. On 1 Apr ...

; the aircraft fly the circuit twice. L. L. Carter is the overall winner, completing the course in a

Gloster Mars The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British fighter aircraft developed by the Nieuport & General Aircraft company for the Royal Air Force towards the end of the First World War. Although ordered into production before the aircraft first flew, it did n ...

at an average speed of 192.4 mph (309.6 km/h) in 1 hour 2 minutes 23 seconds; H. A. Hammersley wins the handicap competition in an Avro Viper with a time of 1 hour 49 minutes 56 seconds at an average speed of 109.5 mph (176.2 km/h) with a handicap of 51 minutes 38 seconds. It is the last Aerial Derby; plans for another one in 1924 will be cancelled due to a lack of high-speed entrants, and later talk of reviving the event comes to nothing. **The third annual Air League Challenge Cup race is held as part of the Aerial Derby programme at Croydon Airport in London. The team relay race format of previous races is dropped; instead, the 16 competitors – all

pilots – compete individually, each flying a

Bristol F.2B Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...

fitted with a 275-horsepower (205-kilowatt)

Rolls-Royce Falcon The Rolls-Royce Falcon is an aero engine developed in 1915. It was a smaller version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle, a liquid-cooled V-12 of 867 cu in (14.2 L) capacity. Fitted to many British World War I-era aircraft, production ceased in 1927. ...

engine over a 100-mile (161-kilometer) triangular course.

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Horace Scott Shield, representing

RAF Eastchurch Royal Air Force Eastchurch or more simply RAF Eastchurch (formerly RNAS Eastchurch) is a former Royal Air Force station near Eastchurch village, on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England. The history of aviation at Eastchurch stretches back to the fi ...

, wins the race. * August 21 – The first electric airway beacons start appearing at airfields in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to assist in night flying operations. * August 27 – A

operated by

on a scheduled passenger flight from Berck-sur-Mer Airport in

Berck-sur-Mer Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer (, literally ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. It lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve. Geography Situ ...

, to

, makes an unscheduled landing at

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

, England, for repairs to its overheating left engine. After it continues its flight to Croydon, its right engine fails. Its pilot attempts a forced landing on East Malling Heath, but goes into a spin and crashes on final approach when passengers misunderstand an instruction for some of them to move towards the rear of the aircraft, affecting the Goliath's

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weight function, weighted relative position (vector), position of the distributed mass sums to zero. Thi ...

. One passenger dies, but the other 10 passengers and both crew members survive. * August 28 –

John Richter John Fritz Richter (March 12, 1937 – March 1, 1983) was an American basketball player. He attended Frankford High School in Philadelphia. A 6'9" forward from North Carolina State University, Richter played one season ( 1959–60) in the NBA a ...

and

Lowell Smith Lowell Herbert Smith (October 8, 1892 – November 4, 1945) was a pioneer American airman who piloted the first airplane to receive a complete mid-air refueling (along with Lt. John P. Richter) on June 27, 1923, and later set an endurance rec ...

establish a new endurance record of 37 hours 15 minutes in an

, covering 3,293 miles (5,299 km). They are refueled fifteen times during the flight.

September

* September 1 – The

''Amagi'' is heavily damaged by the

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

while still under conversion from a

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

. She is scrapped, and the

''Kaga'' is selected for conversion into an aircraft carrier instead. * September 4 – The

's first U.S.-built rigid

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

, the as-yet-unnamed

ZR-1 USS ''Shenandoah'' was the first of four United States Navy rigid airships. It was constructed during 1922–1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and first flew in September 1923. It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships and ...

, makes her first flight at

Naval Air Station Lakehurst A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She contains most of the world's extracted reserves of

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

at this time. * September 5 ** The French Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R sets a new world altitude record of 10,741 meters (35,239 feet).Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 688. **

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

bombers carry out anti-shipping exercises, sinking the obsolete battleships and . * September 10 –

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Lawson H. Sanderson sets a new world airspeed record of 238 mph (383 km/hr) in a

Navy-Wright NW The Navy-Wright NW series, also called the Mystery Racer were racing aircraft built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation at the request of the US Navy. Although innovative, both prototype racers were lost before achieving their true potential. De ...

. * September 28 ** The 1923

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying ...

race flown at

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

in the

. David Rittenhouse of the

wins in a

Curtiss CR-3 Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

at an average speed of 285.5 km/h (177.4 mph). ** The

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

''OB-1'' is destroyed in a crash at

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

October

* October 6 **

Curtiss R2C The Curtiss R2C was a racing aircraft designed for the United States Navy in 1923 by Curtiss. It was a single-seater biplane with a monocoque fuselage and staggered single-bay wings of unequal span braced with I-struts. The aircraft's advanced ...

s win first and second place in the

Pulitzer Trophy Race The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

, the winning aircraft setting a new airspeed record of 243.6 mph (392 km/h). **

Czech Airlines Czech Airlines j.s.c. (abbreviation: ČSA, cz, České Aerolinie, a.s.) is the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Its head office is located in the Vokovice area of Prague's 6th district and its hub is Václav Havel Airport Prague. The compa ...

is founded by the government of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

as CSA ''Československé státní aerolinie'' ("Czechoslovak State Airlines"), commencing operations on October 29 with a Prague Kbely–Bratislava flight. * October 8–13 – The ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' sponsors the Motor Glider Competition at

Lympne Aerodrome Lympne Airport , was a military and later civil airfield , at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returni ...

, the first of the three light airplane trials held there. The contest rewards the most economical aircraft as well as the highest speed, highest altitude, and greatest endurance.

Bert Hinkler Herbert John Louis Hinkler (8 December 1892 – 7 January 1933), better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator (dubbed "Australian Lone Eagle") and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person ...

is among the prize-winners. Record-setting French pilot

Alexis Maneyrol Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–197 ...

dies in the crash of his Peyret Monoplane on the final day. * October 10 – The

's first U.S.-built rigid

, ZR-1. is christened and commissioned and receives her name: . * October 13 – Flying over Lympne Aerodrome during the light aircraft trials there, an

Avro 558 The Avro 558 was a British single-engined ultralight biplane built by Avro at Hamble Aerodrome. Design and development The Avro 558 was designed for the 1923 light aircraft trials for single-seaters at Lympne Aerodrome. Two Avro 558 biplan ...

sets an altitude record for a light aircraft of its class, reaching 13,850 feet (4,222 meters). * October 23 –

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Pier Ruggero Piccio Lieutenant General Count Pier Ruggero Piccio (27 September 1880 – 30 July 1965) was an Italian aviator and the founding Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force. With 24 victories during his career, he is one of the principal Italian air aces o ...

becomes the first Commandant General of the ''

'' (Italian Royal Air Force). When he leaves the position in 1925, the position will be renamed Chief of Air Staff. * October 30 – Flying the Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R, the French pilot

sets a new world altitude record of 11,145 meters (36,565 feet). The record will stand until 1927. * October 31 – The Italian armed forces are ordered to test their efficiency by getting all of their airplanes into the air and flying them for one hour; 420 aircraft pass the test.

November

* During a speech at

Centocelle Airport Centocelle Airport ( it, Aeroporto di Centocelle) was an airport situated in Centocelle, a quarter of Rome in Italy. It is also referred to as Rome-Centocelle Airport (''Aeroporto di Roma-Centocelle''). It was the first airport and flight schoo ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italian

says, "As head of the government with the enormous responsibility of the existence, independence, freedom, and well-being of the Italian people, I am obliged not to believe in universal peace, and still less in perpetual peace. No one knows whether the war of tomorrow will be exclusively an aerial or a land or a naval war. For me, it is enough to ponder on what others are doing. If others are arming in the skies, then we must arm in the skies."Gooch, John, ''Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940'', Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 55. * The

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

has a force of 296 bombers and 300 fighters. Other than

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

is the only European continental power building a substantial air force. * November 1 – The

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

buys the rights to manufacture

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...

dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

s in the

. * November 2 – Flying a Curtiss R2C-1, U.S. Navy

H. J. Rowe sets a new world airspeed record of 259.16 mph (417.07 km/h). * November 4 – Flying a Curtiss R2C-1, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Alford J. Williams sets a new world airspeed record of 266.6 mph (429.02 km/h). * November 18 – During an

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the first

-related fatality in history occurs when the fuel hose becomes entangled in the right

s of both the refueler and the receiver aircraft. The

pilot of the refueler,

P. T. Wagner, dies in the ensuing crash of DH-4B ''23-444''.

December

*December 21 – The French dirigible ''Dixmude'' explodes over the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

during a flight from Cuers-Pierrefeu,

, to

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

after being struck by lightning. Her entire crew of 52 perishes.

First flights

Avia BH-9 __NOTOC__ The Avia BH-9 was a twin-seat sports plane built in Czechoslovakia in 1923, based on the BH-5. As with other developments in the BH-1 lineage, the BH-9 was a low-wing braced monoplane that accommodated the pilot and passenger in tande ...

* Avro 560 * Dayton-Wright PS-1 *

Engineering Division TP-1 __NOTOC__ The Engineering Division TP-1 was a two-seat biplane fighter designed by Alfred V. Verville and Virginius E. Clark at the United States Army Air Corps Engineering Division. A second aircraft was completed as an observation biplane and ...

* Farman F.120 Jabiru * Grigorovich M-24 *

Loening OL The Loening OL, also known as the Loening Amphibian, was an American two-seat amphibious biplane designed by Grover Loening and built by Loening for the United States Army Air Corps and the United States Navy. Design and development First flown ...

Piaggio P.2 The Piaggio P.2 was an Italian fighter prototype of advanced design built by Piaggio in 1923. Design and development In 1923, the Pegna-Bonmartini workshops at Sestri Ponente in Genoa, Italy, were constructing a fighter aircraft prototype des ...

* Piaggio P.3

January

* Curtiss XPW-8, prototype of the

Curtiss PW-8 The P-1 Hawk (Curtiss Model 34) was a 1920s open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Army Air Corps. An earlier variant of the same aircraft had been designated PW-8 prior to 1925."US Military Aircraft Designations & Serials 19 ...

* Mitsubishi 2MT, also known as

Mitsubishi B1M The Mitsubishi B1M was a Japanese torpedo bomber of the 1920s, also known as the Navy Type 13 Carrier-Borne Attack Aircraft. It was designed and built by Mitsubishi and used in combat against China. The aircraft was used by the air services of th ...

* January 9 or 17 (sources differ) –

, first successful

autogiro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

flight * January 19 –

Armstrong Whitworth Wolf The Armstrong Whitworth Wolf was a British two-seat reconnaissance aircraft ordered by the Royal Air Force in 1923. Design and development The Wolf was a two-bay biplane of unorthodox design, with the fuselage mounted between the two sets of w ...

* January 30 – Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.7

March

Aero A.18 The Aero A.18 was a biplane fighter aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s. It was a development of the Ae 02 and Ae 04 fighters Aero had designed during World War I, but also borrowed from the more recent A.11 reconnaissance-bomber d ...

Hawker Woodcock The Hawker Woodcock was a British single-seat fighter built by the Hawker Engineering Company as the first fighter to be produced by Hawker Engineering (the successor to Sopwith Aviation). It was used by the RAF as a night fighter in the 1920 ...

April

* April 29 – Boeing XPW-9, first prototype of the

Boeing PW-9 The Boeing Model 15 was a United States single-seat open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the 1920s, manufactured by the Boeing company. The Model 15 saw service with the United States Army Air Service (as the PW-9 series) and with the Unit ...

and

Boeing FB-1 The Boeing Model 15 was a United States single-seat open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the 1920s, manufactured by the Boeing company. The Model 15 saw service with the United States Army Air Service (as the PW-9 series) and with the Unit ...

May

* Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III *

Gloster Grebe The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse (an experimental aircraft later developed as a trainer), and was the Royal Air Force's first post-First World War fighter aircraft, entering service in 1923 ...

* May 9 – Blériot 115

June

* June 2 – Boeing XPW-9 * June 3 –

Vickers Venture The Vickers Type 94 Venture was a British army cooperation biplane of the 1920s, designed and built by Vickers, as a development of the Vixen. While six were built for the Royal Air Force, they were found unsuitable and were used for experiment ...

''J7277'' * June 12 – Junkers J 21 (also known as T 21 and H 21) * June 28 – Armstrong Whitworth Awana

July

Gerhardt Cycleplane The Gerhardt Cycleplane has been called the world's first successful human-powered aircraft.Cornelisse, Diana G. ''Splendid Vision, Unswerving Purpose: Developing Air Power for the United States Air Force During the First Century of Powered Flight' ...

* July 1 – Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R * July 30 –

de Havilland DH.50 The de Havilland DH.50 was a 1920s British large single-engined biplane transport built by de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, and licence-built in Australia, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia. History In the early 1920s, Geoffrey de Havi ...

August

* August 2 – Wright F2W * August 21 –

ANEC I The ANEC I and ANEC II were 1920s British single-engine ultralight aircraft designed and built by Air Navigation and Engineering Company Limited at Addlestone Surrey. One was privately constructed in Brisbane, Australia. History The ANEC I and ...

* August 22 – Barling XNBL * August 23 – Polikarpov IL-400, prototype of the

Polikarpov I-1 The Polikarpov I-1 was the first indigenous Soviet monoplane fighter. It had to be redesigned after the crash of the first prototype, and was eventually ordered into production in small numbers, but it was never accepted for service with the Sov ...

September

* September 4 – USS ''Shenandoah'' (ZR-1) * September 9 – Curtiss R2C-1Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 123. * September 7 –

Handley Page Type S The Handley Page Type S, or HPS-1 was a prototype British carrier-based fighter developed for the United States Navy in the early 1920s. A low-wing monoplane, it was unsuccessful, only two being built and flown. Development and design In 1921 t ...

* September 14 – Junkers T 23

October

* October 2 –

de Havilland Humming Bird The de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird is a British single-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane light aircraft first flown in the 1920s. Design and development In response to the ''Daily Mail'' Light Aeroplane Competition of 1923 de Havilland ...

* October 23 –

Handley Page Hyderabad The Handley Page H.P.24 Hyderabad was a twin-engine biplane heavy bomber designed and produced by the United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. It holds the distinction of being the last wooden heavy bomber to be operated by ...

November

* November 30 – Junkers J 22 (also known as T 22)

Entered service

with

Retirements

* Airco DH.10 Amiens by the

Notes

{{Aviation timelines navbox Aviation by year