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 1931:

Events

* Bert Hinkler flies a de Havilland Puss Moth from

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, then non-stop to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, then on to

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

and

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 ...

. He then flies across the South Atlantic Ocean to

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

in extremely bad weather, becoming the first person to fly across the South Atlantic solo and only the second person after

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

in 1927 to fly solo across the Atlantic. He completes his journey by flying from West Africa to

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 ...

. For the flight, he receives the Segrave Trophy, the Johnston Memorial Prize, and the Britannia Trophy for the most meritorious flying performance of the year. * Manufacturer

Airspeed Ltd Airspeed Limited was established in 1931 to build aeroplanes in York, England, by A. H. Tiltman and Nevil Shute Norway (the aeronautical engineer and novelist, who used his forenames as his pen-name). The other directors were A. E. Hewitt, ...

founded in

York, England York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

. * Alexander Seversky founds the

Seversky Aircraft Corporation The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York, on Long Island, New York, Long Island. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and produc ...

. * Watanabe Iron Works, the ancestor of the Kyūshū Airplane Company Ltd., begins to manufacture aircraft. * First Bendix trophy race. * 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 ...

decides to abolish its

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 ...

units and phase airships out of the fleet over the next few years. * In

, the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

is completed, topped with a 200-foot (61-meter)

mooring mast A mooring mast, or mooring tower, is a structure designed to allow for the docking of an airship outside of an airship hangar or similar structure. More specifically, a mooring mast is a mast or tower that contains a fitting on its top that allow ...

for

s. Plans to disembark airship passengers prove impractical, and the mast is never used except for a single three-minute contact by 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 ...

blimp ''J-4''. * U.S. Army

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

William A. Cooke sets world gliding records for endurance and distance, flying an estimated 600 statute miles (966 km) in 21 hours 34 minutes 15 seconds at Wheeler Field,

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

. * Summer 1931 –

Transcontinental and Western Air Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

moves its headquarters from

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

.TWA History Timeline

January

*In the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, construction of Leningrad's Shosseynaya Airport (the future

Pulkovo Airport Pulkovo ( rus, links=no, Пулково, p=ˈpulkəvə) is an international airport serving St. Petersburg, Russia. It consists of one terminal which is located south of the city centre. The airport serves as a airline hub, hub for Rossiya Ai ...

) begins. * January 6 – Italian General Italo Balbo leads the first formation flight across the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. Twelve

Savoia-Marchetti S.55 The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 was a double-hulled flying boat produced in Italy, beginning in 1924. Shortly after its introduction, it began setting records for speed, payload, altitude and range. Design and development The S.55 featured many in ...

s fly from

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...

. * January 7 –

Guy Menzies Guy Lambton Menzies (20 August 19091 November 1940) was an Australian aviator who flew the first solo trans-Tasman flight, from Sydney, Australia to the West Coast of New Zealand, on 7 January 1931. Family The eldest of the five children ...

flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing his

Avro AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...

Sports Avian on New Zealand's

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. * January 8 – Piarco Airport, the future Piarco International Airport, opens in

Port-of-Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. * January 9 – The Pratt-MacArthur agreement defines the

s naval air force as an element of the fleet that moves with the fleet and helps it carry out its missions. The agreement settles a lengthy controversy between the

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 ...

and the Navy over the role of naval aviation in overall national defense, as well as internal Navy debates over the role of naval air power.

February

* Flying from

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

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 ...

, the French aviators Antoine Paillard and Louis Mailloux fly a circuit for over 50 hours in the Bernard 80 GR in an attempt to set a new unrefueled nonstop closed-circuit world distance record. They cover before higher-than-expected fuel consumption forces them to land only short of the record. * February 1 – Polish pilot

Stanisław Skarżyński Stanisław Jakub Skarżyński (1 May 1899 − 26 June 1942) was a lieutenant colonel in the Polish Air Force and aviator famous for his transatlantic solo flight in 1933. Early military career In 1916–17 Skarżyński was a member of the Pol ...

begins a tour around

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

in a

PZL Ł.2 The PZL Ł.2 was the Polish Army cooperation and liaison aircraft, built in 1929 in the Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL) in Warsaw. Only a small series of 31 aircraft, including prototype, were made, and used by the Polish Air Force in the 1930s ...

. He will complete it on May 5. * February 12 – The '' Detroit News'' places an order for a

Pitcairn PCA-2 The Pitcairn PCA-2 was an autogyro (designated as "autogiro" by Pitcairn) developed in the United States in the early 1930s.Taylor 1989, p.735 It was Harold F. Pitcairn's first autogyro design to sell in quantity. It had a conventional design fo ...

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 ...

with the Pitcairn Aircraft Company. It is the first commercial order for an autogiro 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 ...

. * February 14 – The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

authorizes a new award, the Air Mail Medal of Honor, which the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

is to award to pilots who perform distinguished service in connection with

U.S. Air Mail United States airmail was a service class of the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) and its successor United States Postal Service (USPS) delivering air mail by aircraft flown within the United States and its possessions and territori ...

service. It will first be awarded in December

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

. * February 21 – After a

Pan American-Grace Airways Pan American-Grace Airways, also known as Panagra, and dubbed "The World's Friendliest Airline" was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company. On September 13, 1928, a small single-engine ...

(Panagra)

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It w ...

lands at Rodríguez Ballón Airport at

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, armed revolutionary soldiers surround it. They demand that it fly them to another destination, but the Trimotor's pilot refuses. The standoff continues for 10 days until, on 2 March, the soldiers suddenly announce that their side won the revolution and let the pilot go in exchange for him giving one of them a ride to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

. * February 26 – Imperial Airways begins scheduled services between

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 ...

and

using

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a three-engine biplane airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It was the company's first airliner. The Argosy was developed during the early-to-mid 1 ...

s. * February 6-March 1 – Flying the

Blériot 110 The Blériot 110 (or Blériot-Zappata 110) was a French aircraft built in 1930 to attempt new world aerial distance records. Design and development Built specifically at the request of the ordered by the Service Technique of the French Air Mini ...

over a closed circuit in

, the French aviator Maurice Rossi sets an unrefueled distance record of . The plane remains in the air for over 75 hours 23 minutes.

March

* The French aviator Marcel Goulette flies a Farman F.304 trimotor from

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 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 ...

, to

Tananarive Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and back. * March 9 – Flying a Farman F.302, French aviators Jean Réginensi and Marcel Lalouette set new distance and duration records over a closed circuit with a 2,000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload, flying in 17 hours. * March 21 **

suffers its first airline disaster when the Australian National Airways Avro 618 Ten ''Southern Cloud'' disappears in bad weather over the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, with the loss of all eight people on board. The aircrafts wreckage will not be discovered until October 26, 1958. **

Zygmunt Puławski Zygmunt Puławski (October 24, 1901 – March 21, 1931) was a Polish aircraft designer and pilot. He invented a gull-wing aircraft design, also known as "Puławski wing" and designed a series of Polish PZL fighters. He was born in Lublin. In ...

, one of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

's leading aircraft designers, dies during the sixth flight of the PZL.12

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 ...

prototype – which he designed and built – when the PZL.12 stalls after take-off due to a strong wind and crashes in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland. * March 26 – Ad Astra Aero and Balair merge to form

Swissair Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002. It was formed from a merger between Bal ...

. * March 30–April 2 – Flying the Benard 80 GR, French aviators Jean Marmoz and Antoine Paillard set a new closed-circuit unrefueled flight distance record, covering in a time of 52 hours 44 minutes. A loss of coolant finally brings the flight to an end, although during the last part of the flight the two men pump champagne, ''eau de'' Vittel, and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

into the radiator to keep the engine cool. * March 31 – A Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crashes near

Bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, killing all eight on board, including

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

. The crash prompts the first grounding of an aircraft type, ordered by the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

April

* April 8 – Flying a

over Willow Grove,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

sets an

altitude record, reaching .century-of-flight.net Century of Flight: History of the Helicopter: Contributions of the Autogyro
/ref> * April 10 –

C. W. A. Scott Flight Lieutenant Charles William Anderson Scott, AFC (13 February 1903 – 15 April 1946Dunnell ''Aeroplane'', November 2019, p. 46.) was an English aviator. He won the MacRobertson Air Race, a race from London to Melbourne, in 1934, in a tim ...

breaks the record for the fastest solo flight from England to Australia, making the flight between April 1 and April 10 in a time of 9 days 4 hours 11 minutes. * April 14 –

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

founds its National Aviation School. It is the forerunner of the Honduran Air Force. * April 21 –

Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company The Pitcairn Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light utility aircraft. An early proponent of the autogyro, the company, later known as the Autogiro Company of America among other names, remained in business until 1948. ...

pilot Jim Ray lands a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogiro on the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

lawn in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, for a ceremony in which

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

presents the

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to im ...

to autogiro manufacturer

Harold Pitcairn Harold Frederick Pitcairn (June 20, 1897 – April 23, 1960) was an American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of innovations ...

. After the ceremony, Ray takes off again in the PCA-2.

May

* May 5 – Polish pilot

completes a tour around

in a

. He began the tour on February 1. * May 14 – A

de Havilland Gypsy Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane. ...

piloted by

professional hunter A professional hunter (less frequently referred to as market or commercial hunter and regionally, especially in Britain and Ireland, as professional stalker or gamekeeper) is a person who hunts and/or manages game by profession. Some professional ...

Denys Finch Hatton The Honourable Denys George Finch Hatton MC (24 April 1887 – 14 May 1931) was an English aristocratic big-game hunter and the lover of Baroness Karen Blixen (also known by her pen name, Isak Dinesen), a Danish noblewoman who wrote about him ...

and carrying his

Kĩkũyũ The Kikuyu (also ''Agĩkũyũ/Gĩkũyũ'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Central Kenya. At a population of 8,148,668 as of 2019, they account for 17.13% of the total population of Kenya, making them Kenya's largest ethnic group. The t ...

servant Kamau takes off from the airfield at

Voi Voi is the largest town in Taita-Taveta County in southern Kenya, in the former Coast Province. It lies at the western edge of the Taru Desert, south and west of the Tsavo East National Park. The Sagala Hills are to the south. Economy Voi is a ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, circles the field twice, stalls, and crashes, killing both men. * May 27 – Launching from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Swiss professor

Auguste Piccard Auguste Antoine Piccard (28 January 1884 – 24 March 1962) was a Switzerland, Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking Gas balloon, hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere. Picca ...

and his assistant Paul Kipfer ascend to an altitude of in a balloon, establishing a new world altitude record for human flight and gathering substantial data on the

upper atmosphere Upper atmosphere is a collective term that refers to various layers of the atmosphere of the Earth above the troposphere and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets, and includes: * The mesosphere, which on Earth lies between the ...

and

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

s before landing on a glacier in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. * May 28 **

Walter E. Lees Walter Edwin Lees (July 16, 1887 – May 16, 1957) was an early American aviator who set a flight endurance record in 1931. Biography He was born on July 16, 1887, in Janesville, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He ...

and

Frederick Brossy Frederic Albert Brossy (March 25, 1902 – February 20, 1974) set the flight endurance record with Walter Edwin Lees on May 28, 1931. Biography He was born in 1902 to Francis E. Brossy. In 1931, he was an ensign in reserve squadron VN-9RD9 at the ...

set a new endurance record for a non-refueled flight, landing a

Bellanca AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company. Prior to 1983, it was known as the Bellanca Aircraft Company. The company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, although it was preceded by p ...

J2 Diesel aircraft at

Jacksonville Beach Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...

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 ...

, after remaining in the air continuously for 84 hours 32 minutes. The record will stand until July 1986. ** Flying the

''Missing Link'', John M. Miller completes the first flight across the

in a

rotary-wing aircraft 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 Internat ...

June

* June 5 –

breaks the record for the fastest solo flight from Australia to England, flying the from Wyndham, Australia to Lympne, England from May 26 to June 5, in 10 days 23 hours piloting a DH.60 Moth (Gipsy II). * June 11 – The 40-passenger

Handley Page H.P.42 The Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45 were four-engine biplane airliners designed and manufactured by British aviation company Handley Page, based in Radlett, Hertfordshire. It held the distinction of being the largest airliner in regular use in ...

four-engine biplane enters service with British airline Imperial Airways when G-AAGX ''Hannibal'' operates a

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 ...

to Paris–Le Bourget flight, setting new standards of passenger service and comfort. * June 23–July 1 –

Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one ...

and

Harold Gatty Harold Charles Gatty (5 January 1903 – 30 August 1957) was an Australian navigator and aviation pioneer. Charles Lindbergh called Gatty the "Prince of Navigators."Gywnn-Jones, Terry, ''Harold Gatty, Aviation Navigation Expert'', Aviation Histo ...

fly around the world in a Lockheed Vega, the ''Winnie Mae'', covering in 8 days 15 hours 51 minutes – a new record.

July

* July 15 – The

United States Army Corps 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 ...

's Air Corps Tactical School completes its relocation from Langley Field,

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 ...

, to

Maxwell Field Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. * July 20 – The

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

and Maine Central Railroad found Boston-Maine Airways, the future

Northeast Airlines Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Del ...

. It flies from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, to Bangor,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, via

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Maine, as a Pan American Airways contract carrier. * July 22–September 1 – Sir Alan Cobham and crew make a return flight between England and the

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 ...

in a Short Valletta. * July 27 – The Air Line Pilots Association, International is founded at a meeting in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 ...

. * July 28–31 –

Russell Norton Boardman Russell Boardman (1898–July 1, 1933) was an early American aviation pioneer who, along with John Polando, flew from Floyd Bennett Field to Istanbul, Turkey in 1931 to set an aviation record for the longest continuous distance flown without refue ...

and

John Louis Polando John Polando (1901–1985) was an early American aviation pioneer who, along with Russell Boardman, flew from Floyd Bennett Field to Istanbul in 1931 to set an aviation record for the longest continuous distance flown without refueling. Following t ...

fly the

Special J-300 high-wing monoplane ''Cape Cod'', registration ''NR761W'', powered by a

Wright J-6 The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical (originally an independent company, later a division of Curtiss-Wright). The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to inc ...

Whirlwind engine, nonstop from Floyd Bennett Field in

, to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, in 49 hours 20 minutes, establishing a distance record of . It is the first known non-stop flight to surpass either 5,000 miles or 8,000 kilometers.

August

* August 6 –

inaugurates the first air cargo service in the

with a shipment of livestock from St. Louis,

, to

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

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 ...

. * August 9 – After an engine separates from the American Airways

Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It w ...

''NC9662'' shortly after takeoff from Cincinnati Municipal Airport in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, for a flight to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, its pilot tries to return to the airport for an emergency landing. He misses the runway and then tries to land on the bank of the Little Miami River, but the aircraft strikes soft sand and noses over, killing all six people on board. * August 29 – The German

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 ...

''Graf Zeppelin'' pioneers the air route between

and

September

* The Latécoère 380

sets six world

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 ...

records, including three speed-with-load-over-distance records and a closed-circuit distance-with-load record of . * 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 ...

s first instrument flying course begins. Held at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

, it employs six Avro 504Ns fitted with blind-flying hoods,

turn indicator In aviation, the turn and slip indicator (T/S, a.k.a. turn and bank indicator) and the turn coordinator (TC) variant are essentially two aircraft flight instruments in one device. One indicates the rate of turn, or the rate of change in the aircra ...

s, and reduced dihedral to decrease inherent stability. * September 7 – Herbert Clayton Wells loses his life during an air contests in Ottumwa. * September 7 –

Lowell Bayles Lowell Richard Bayles (January 24, 1900 - December 5, 1931) was an American air race and stunt pilot from the "Golden Age of Air Racing." He was the winner of the 1931 Thompson Trophy flying the Gee Bee Model Z. He was killed during an attempt a ...

wins the 1931 Thompson Trophy in the

Gee Bee Model Z The Granville Gee Bee Model Z was an American racing aircraft of the 1930s, the first of the Super Sportster aircraft built by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts, with the sole intent of winning the Thompson Trophy, which ...

racer at the

National Air Races 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 ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, with a speed of . * September 13 – 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 ...

wins the

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 ...

outright by winning its third consecutive Schneider Trophy race.

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

John Boothman Air chief marshal Sir John Nelson Boothman, (19 February 1901 – 29 December 1957) was a senior Royal Air Force officer during World War II who went on to high command in the post-war years. RAF career Educated at Harrow County School for Bo ...

of the RAF High-Speed Flight completes the course at

Calshot Spit Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and slate, shingle bank, near the village of Calshot, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England.OS Explorer Map, New Forest, Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Or ...

Supermarine S.6B The Supermarine S.6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of th ...

serial ''S1595'' at . With the trophy retired, the Schneider Trophy races, begun in 1913, come to an end. * September 23 – A Pitcairn XOP-1 autogyro conducts landing and take-off trials aboard the

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 ...

. It is the U.S. Navys first experiment with a shipborne rotary-wing aircraft. * September 29 **Following the Schneider Trophy success, Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant

George Stainforth Wing Commander George Hedley Stainforth, (22 March 1899 – 27 September 1942) was a Royal Air Force pilot and the first man to exceed 400 miles per hour. Early life George Hedley Stainforth was the son of George Staunton Stainforth, a solici ...

in Supermarine S.6B serial ''S1596'' breaks the 400 mph

air speed record An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...

barrier at . **American inventor

Ed Link Edwin Albert Link (July 26, 1904 – September 7, 1981) was an American inventor, entrepreneur and pioneer in aviation, underwater archaeology, and submersibles. He invented the flight simulator, which was called the "Blue Box" or "Link Train ...

receives a patent for his "Combination Training Device for Student Aviators and Entertainment Apparatus." Better known as the Link Trainer, it allows pilots to train safely on the ground for "blind" instrument flying.

October

* October 1 –

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

begins a regular service between

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Fokker F.XII The Fokker F.XII was a three-engined high-winged monoplane airliner produced in the 1930s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Two aircraft were built under license by Danish Orlogsværftet. The first was powered by 347 kW (465 hp) ...

. At this is the longest regular air route in the world at the time. * October 3 –

reestablishes

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

control over naval aviation, creating a naval aviation corps which takes over the control of naval aircraft from the

general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

. * October 3–5 – Clyde Pangborn and

Hugh Herndon Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

make the first non-stop flight across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, from Samushiro Beach,

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 ...

, to Wenatchee, Washington in 41 hours in '' Miss Veedol'', a Bellanca J-300 Long Distance Special. * October 17 – The first hook-on test of the U.S. Navys

parasite fighter A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier. The carrier craft may or may not be able to later recov ...

program takes places, as the Curtiss XF9C-1 prototype successfully docks with the

. * October 27 – The Detroit Aircraft Corporation files for bankruptcy. Eventually, the Lockheed portion of the company is bought out of receivership. * October 27–28 – As a test of the second Fairey Long-Range Monoplane in preparation for a later attempt at setting a new non-stop distance flight record it,

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Oswald R. Gayford and

D. L. G. Bett fly from

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

RAF Abu Sueir 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 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, covering nonstop in 31 hours.

November

* The first production R-6 rolls off the assembly line at the N22 factory in Moscow. * Hillman's Airways is founded. It will begin charter services in December 1931 and scheduled services in April 1932. * November 2 –

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 ...

squadrons VS-15M and VS-14M embark on and , the first time Marine Corps squadrons are assigned to

s. * November 20 – The Government of the Philippines creates an office under its Department of Commerce and Communications to handle aviation matters in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, particularly the enforcement of rules and regulations governing commercial aviation and private flying.

December

* December 5 –

, winner of the 1931 Thompson Trophy, dies when the

racer he is piloting crashes during a speed run at Wayne County Airport in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. * Hillman's Airways begins flight operations with a charter flight. It will begin scheduled services in April 1932. * December 29 – As the French aviators Louis Mailloux and Jean Marmoz take off in the Bernard 81 GR ''Antoine Paillard'' to attempt to set a new unrefueled non-stop closed-circuit flight distance record, the airplane's propeller hits the ground and its undercarriage collapses. The two men escape the accident with only a few bruises, and the aircraft eventually is repaired.

First flights

* Aeronca C-1 Cadet * ANF Les Mureaux 110A.2, prototype of ANF Les Mureaux 113R.2Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 50. * ANF Les Mureaux 112GR *

Arado Ar 65 The Arado Ar 65 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 64. Both looked very similar. The only major difference was the use of a 12-cylinder inline engine versus the Ar 64's radial. The wingspan was also increased. The Ar 65 a ...

Arrow Active The Arrow Active is a British aerobatic aircraft built in the 1930s. Design and development The Arrow Active is a single-seat biplane of conventional configuration, with single-bay, staggered wings of unequal span and chord, bordering on being ...

Avro 627 Mailplane The Avro 627 Mailplane was a British biplane developed in 1931 by Avro from the Avro Antelope bomber as a mail plane for use in Canada. Only one was built which ended up being used as a test bed. Development The Avro 608 Hawk was a proposed t ...

Beriev MBR-2 The Beriev MBR-2 was a Soviet multi-purpose (including reconnaissance) flying boat which entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1935. Out of 1,365 built, 9 were used by foreign countries including Finland and North Korea. In Soviet Union it som ...

Curtiss-Wright CW-14 Osprey The Curtiss-Wright CW-14, named variously Travel Air, Sportsman, Speedwing and Osprey is an American 3-seat open cockpit single-bay biplane from the 1930s that was developed by Travel Air as a replacement for the highly successful Travel Air ...

Fairchild 22 The Fairchild 22 Model C7 was an American two-seat touring or training monoplane designed and built by the Kreider-Reisner division of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation at Hagerstown, Maryland. Development The aircraft was designed by Kreider- ...

Farman F.250 The Farman F.250 was a small, four passenger single engine low cantilever wing airliner built in France in 1931. The single example built was bought by an airline but was little used, owing to stability issues. Design and development The Farman ...

* Focke-Wulf A 38 *

Latécoère 300 The Latécoère 300 series of aircraft were a group of civil and military flying boats. They were manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Latécoère in the 1930s. A single Latécoère 300 was built; it was flown for the first time in 193 ...

* Latécoère 440 *

Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter The Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter was a Japanese fighter of the 1930s. It was a single-engine, single-seat parasol monoplane with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage. Development Designed in response to an Army requirement of 1927, the Type 91 wa ...

* Pitcairn PAA-1 *

* Westland-Hill Pterodactyl Mk. IV * Mid-1931 –

Grigorovich I-Z The Grigorovich I-Z was a fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Advances in aircraft survivability thanks to all-metal construction and self-sealing and inert gas-filled fuel tanks led to experimentation with large-cali ...

* Autumn 1931 – Stinson Model R

February

Couzinet 21 The Couzinet 20 was a low power, three-engined aircraft designed in France in 1929 for postal duties, though it could have been configured to carry three passengers or as a medical transport. Variants flew with three different engines but only tw ...

Farman F.280 The Farman F.280 was a three engine, cantilever wing monoplane designed in France as a mail carrier in the early 1930s. Underpowered and slow, only two were built and briefly used. Design and development The F.280 was a relative, though not a m ...

* PZL.12 flying boat prototype - designed and built by leading Polish aircraft designer

, the PZL.12 stalls and crashes in Warsaw during its sixth flight a month later on 21 March just after take-off due to a strong wind, killing Zygmunt *

Westland PV-3 The Westland PV-3 was a British two-seat torpedo bomber of the 1930s built by Westland Aircraft Works. The aircraft was a private venture development and based on the Westland Wapiti. It never entered production. The aircraft is best known as o ...

* ca. late February –

Potez 40 The Potez 40 was a French three-engine, braced high-wing monoplane designed and built in response to a French government programme for colonial transport and policing aircraft duties. Design and development The Potez 40 was an all-metal aircraft ...

* February 2 – Latécoère 350

March

* Curtiss XF9C-1, prototype of the

Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk The Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk is a light 1930s biplane fighter aircraft that was carried by the United States Navy airships and . It is an example of a parasite fighter, a small airplane designed to be deployed from a larger aircraft such as an ...

Latécoère 490 The Latécoère 490 was a two-seat, single-engined parasol winged aircraft, designed to a French Surveillance aircraft, photographic reconnaissance specification of 1928. Only two prototypes were built. Design and development The French specific ...

* March 3 **

Fairey Gordon The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber (2-seat day bomber) and utility aircraft of the 1930s. The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine. A ...

Northrop Beta The Northrop Beta was an American single-engine, all-metal, low-wing sporting monoplane built in 1931. Design and development The Beta was a two-seater with a 160 hp (119 kW) Menasco Buccaneer inline engine. The first aircraft registe ...

* March 9 –

Blériot 125 __NOTOC__ The Blériot 125 (or Bl-125) was a highly unusual France, French airliner of the early 1930s. Displayed at the 1930 ''Salon de l'Aéronautique'' in Paris, it featured accommodation for twelve passengers in separate twin-fuselage aircraf ...

''F-ALZD'' * March 25 – Hawker Fury * March 28 –

Mitsubishi 2MR8 The Mitsubishi Army Type 92 Reconnaissance Aircraft (九二式偵察機) (company designation 2MR8) was a Japanese short-range reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s designed by Mitsubishi for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. A total of 230 we ...

April

* Amiot 140

May

* Berliner-Joyce XOJ-1, prototype of the

Berliner-Joyce OJ The Berliner-Joyce OJ was an American biplane observation floatplane developed by the Berliner-Joyce Aircraft for the United States Navy during the early 1930s. Design and development The origins of the OJ stemmed from a 1929 Bureau of Aeronauti ...

* May 1 –

Grigorovich TB-5 The Grigorovich TB-5 (russian: Григорович ТБ-5) was an experimental heavy bomber designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Designed as a competitor for the Tupolev TB-3, the TB-5 was intended to be powered by two FED ...

* May 22 – Berliner-Joyce XFJ-2

June

* Curtiss XA-8, prototype of the

Curtiss A-8 The Curtiss A-8 was a low-wing monoplane ground-attack aircraft built by the United States company Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, designed in response to a 1929 United States Army Air Corps requirement for an attack aircraft to replace th ...

Shrike * Curtiss YP-20 HawkAngelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, , p. 144. *

Curtiss XP-22 Hawk The Curtiss XP-22 Hawk was a 1930s American experimental biplane fighter built by Curtiss for evaluation by the United States Army Air Service. Design and development In 1929, the AAC ordered three P-11 Hawks for testing of the 600 hp (4 ...

, prototype of the P-6E Hawk * Focke-Wulf Fw 47

July

* Macchi M.C.72 * July 24 –

Dornier Do 10 The Dornier Do 10, originally designated Dornier Do C4, was the name given by the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) of a pre-World War II German aircraft. It was a two-seat parasol-wing monoplane, intended to be used as a fighter. Two prototy ...

August

* Bernard 81 GR ''Antoine Paillard'' * August 7 –

RWD-5 The RWD 5 was a Polish touring and sports plane of 1931, a two-seat high-wing monoplane, constructed by the RWD team. It was made famous by its transatlantic flight, being the smallest aircraft to cross the Atlantic. Development The RWD 5 was ...

September

Cierva C.24 The de Havilland C.24 was a two-seat autogyro built by de Havilland at its Stag Lane works in England in 1931 Design and development The C.24 was built in 1931 using a Cierva rotor head coupled to the cabin of a de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth ...

* Heinkel He 59 * Lockheed-Detroit XP-900, prototype of the

Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 The Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 was a 1930s prototype two-seat fighter aircraft produced by Detroit Lockheed. An attack version called the A-9 was also proposed. The YP-24 is most remarkable for being the first fighter aircraft to bear the Lockheed ...

* September 29 –

Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 The Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 (or Høver M.F.11, for its designer) was a three-seat, single-engine biplane used by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service for maritime reconnaissance in the decade before the Second World War. The M.F.11 was ...

October

Avro 643 Cadet The Avro Cadet is a single-engined British biplane trainer designed and built by Avro in the 1930s as a smaller development of the Avro Tutor for civil use. Design and development The Avro 631 Cadet was developed in 1931 as a smaller, more e ...

* October 2 –

Junkers Ju 49 The Junkers Ju 49 was a German aircraft designed to investigate high-altitude flight and the techniques of cabin pressurization. It was the world's second working pressurized aircraft, following the Engineering Division USD-9A which first flew i ...

* October 3 –

Latécoère 290 __NOTOC__ The Latécoère 290 was a torpedo bomber floatplane produced in France during the 1930s. Designed by Latécoère in response to an Aéronavale specification for such an aircraft, the 290 was based on its successful Latécoère 28, Laté ...

* October 26 –

De Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

DH.82 prototype ''G-ABRC'' * October 31 –

Westland Wallace The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland as a follow-on to their successful Wapiti. As the last of the interwar general purpose biplanes, it was used by a number of frontl ...

November

* November 25 –

Couzinet 33 The Couzinet 33 Biarritz was a French long-range monoplane built by René Couzinet in the early 1930s. Design The Couzinet 33 was made of wood, with a thick cantilever wing with thickness of at the wing roots; with no dihedral on the upper surf ...

''Biarritz'' * November 27 – Fairey Seal * November 27 –

Fokker D.XVII Fokker D.XVII (sometimes written as Fokker D.17), was a 1930s Dutch sesquiplane developed by Fokker. It was the last fabric-covered biplane fighter they developed in a lineage that extended back to the First World War Fokker D.VII. Design and d ...

December

* December 29 – Grumman XFF-1, prototype of the

Grumman FF The Grumman FF "Fifi" (company designation G-5) was an American biplane fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy during the 1930s.Eden and Moeng 2002, p. 762. It was the first carrier aircraft with retractable landing gear.Winchester ...

* December 29 – Hawker Audax

Entered service

Aeronca C-3 The Aeronca C-3 was a light plane built by the Aeronca Aircraft, Aeronautical Corporation of America in the United States during the 1930s. Design and development Its design was derived from the Aeronca C-2. Introduced in 1931 in aviation, 1931, ...

Dornier Do Y The Dornier Do Y was a German bomber of the 1930s, the second bomber design by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Development Design on the aircraft began in 1930, to follow up from the other Dornier bomber prototype, the Dornier Do P. The first aircraft ...

with the

Royal Yugoslav Air Force The Royal Yugoslav Air Force ( sh-Latn, Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, JKRV; sh-Cyrl, Југословенско краљевско ратно ваздухопловство, ЈКРВ; ( sl, Jugoslovansko kraljevo vojno letalstv ...

Fairchild 100 The Fairchild 100 Pilgrim is an American single-engined high-wing monoplane transport, and was one of a series of single-engine utility transports built by Fairchild Aircraft. Design and development The 100 was similar in design to the Fairchi ...

* Levasseur R3b with

French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: ''Aéronavale'' (contraction of Aéronautique navale), or ''Aviation navale'', or more simply ''l'Aéro'') is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is ' ...

aboard the

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

'' *

Nakajima Ki-6 The was a licensed-produced version of the Fokker Super Universal transport built by Nakajima Aircraft Company in the 1930s. Initially used as an airliner, the militarized version was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in a variety of roles, r ...

with Japan Air Transport * Polikarpov I-5 with the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

May

* May 1 – Ford RR-4, a version of the

, with the

(transferred from the

).Polar, Norman, "'There's a Ford in Your Future'," ''Naval History'', December 2015, p. 15.

October

* October 27 – with the

November

* November 19 –

Sikorsky S-40 The Sikorsky S-40 was an American amphibious flying boat built by Sikorsky in the early 1930s for Pan American Airways. Design and development Sikorsky designed the S-40 in response to a request from Juan Trippe, president of Pan American Airw ...

with

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

December

Nakajima E4N The Nakajima E4N was a Japanese shipboard reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s. It was a two-seat, single-engine, equal-span biplane seaplane used primarily by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Development The first prototype of the Type 90-2 Reconna ...

Retirements

* Airco DH.9A by the British

Avro 566 Avenger The Avro 566 Avenger was a prototype British fighter of the 1920s, designed and built by Avro. It was a single-seat, single-engine biplane of wood and fabric construction. Although it was a streamlined and advanced design, it never entered p ...

* Avro 562 Avis *

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

by the British Royal Air Force *

Westland Witch The Westland Witch was an unsuccessful British bomber prototype, first flown in 1928. Only a single aircraft of this type was built. Development The Witch was developed to List of Air Ministry specifications, specification 23/25 for a single-e ...

References

{{Aviation timelines navbox Aviation by year