On an unrecorded date probably sometime in 1962, scheduled commercial airline flights between the United States and Cuba come to an end. Although historians disagree on the exact date, it apparently occurs after Cuba bans incoming flights during the October 1962Cuban Missile Crisis. Scheduled commercial airline flights between the two countries will not resume until August 31, 2016.[2]
Early 1962 – In Operation High Jump, the United States NavyMcDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II fighter sets a number of world climb-to altitude records: 34.523 seconds to 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), 48.787 seconds to 6,000 meters (20,000 feet), 61.629 seconds to 9,000 meters (30,000 feet), 77.156 seconds to 12,000 meters (39,000 feet), 114.548 seconds to 15,000 meters (49,000 feet), 178.5 seconds to 20,000 meters (66,000 feet), 230.44 seconds to 25,000 meters (82,000 feet), and 371.43 seconds to 30,000 meters (98,000 feet).
January 2 – Piloting Pakistan International Airlines′ first Boeing 720B airliner – a Boeing 720-040B (registration AP-AMG) – on its delivery flight, Captain Abdullah Baig and his copilot, Captain Taimur Baig, set a world record for speed over a commercial air route, flying from London, England, to Karachi, Pakistan, in 6 hours 43 minutes 55 seconds at an average speed of 938.78 km/h (583.33 mph).[4][5]
January 15 – The U.S. Army suffers its first combat fatalities in an aircraft in Vietnam when an H-21C Shawnee transport helicopter is shot down by Viet Cong ground fire near Dak Roda, South Vietnam, with three killed.[6]
February 2 – A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-123 Provider crashes while spraying defoliant near Biên Hòa, South Vietnam, with the loss of three crew members. It is the first U.S. Air Force aircraft lost in Vietnam.[8]
February 12 – French troops discover the mummified body of William N. "Bill" Lancaster and the wreckage of his Avro Mark VIA AvianSouthern Cross in the Sahara Desert. Lancaster had disappeared on April 12, 1933, during an attempt to set a world speed record for a flight from England to South Africa. He is determined to have died on April 20, 1933, while awaiting rescue.[10] The wreckage of the aircraft will be recovered in 1975 and placed on exhibit in 1979.
February 20 – John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth in Mercury Atlas 6.
March 5 – The 21st and last Bendix Trophy race across the contiguous United States takes place with two United States Air Force43rd Bombardment WingB-58A Hustlers as its only entrants in what the Air Force dubs Operation Heat Rise. The B-58s take off from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, fly out over the Pacific Ocean, refuel in the air, then pass over Los Angeles, California, to begin the race, with a finish line at New York City, slowing only to refuel from Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers over Kansas. Flying at altitudes between 25,000 and 50,000 feet (7,600 and 15,200 meters), the first B-58A sets a west-to-east transcontinental speed record, completing the flight in 2 hours 58.71 seconds at an average speed of 1,214.71 mph (1,954.89 km/h), beating the second B-58A by one minute and winning the last Bendix Trophy ever awarded for speed. Without landing, the two B-58As then refuel over the Atlantic Ocean and passes over New York City to begin another record-setting transcontinental flight in the opposite direction. Although the second-place B-58A has to land due to mechanical trouble soon after passing New York City, the Bendix Trophy-winning B-58A returns to Los Angeles, setting an east-to-west transcontinental record time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50.08 seconds, completing the round trip in 4 hours, 41 minutes, 15 seconds at an average speed of 1,044.46 mph (1,680.90 km/h), another record. For the flight, the B-58A's will receive not only the Bendix Trophy, but also the MacKay Trophy.[11][12]
April 21 – Flying at the Soviet Union′s Sternberg Point Observatory, the Tupolev Tu-114 (NATO reporting name "Cleat") airliner 76467, piloted by Ivan Sukhomlin and copiloted by Piotr Soldatov, sets a world speed record for a turboprop landplane over a 10,000 km (6,200 mi) closed circuit carrying a payload of between 1,000 and 10,000 kg (2,200 and 22,000 lb), averaging 737.352 km/h (458.169 mph).
April 22 – Flying an Antonov An-10A, Soviet pilot A. Mitronin sets a world speed record over a 500-kilometer (310-mile) closed loop for aircraft in the An-10's class, averaging 730.6 km/h (454.0 mph).
April 26 – Louis Schalk pilots the first unofficial flight of the A-12 Article 121.
April 30 – Louis Schalk pilots the first official flight of the A-12 Article 121.
Late April – The U.S. Army's 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) arrives at Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam, introducing the Bell HU-1 Iroquois helicopter into combat for the first time.[6] Nicknamed the "Huey,"[6] the UH-1 (as the HU-1 will be redesignated in September 1962) will become iconic of the Vietnam War.
June 3 – The Boeing 707-328Chateau de Sully, operating as Air France Flight 007, crashes shortly after take-off from Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, killing 130 of the 132 people on board in the deadliest single-aircraft disaster to date.
June 18 – To reduce the chances of Viet Cong forces slipping away from large South Vietnamese ground units by fleeing operations areas in small groups, U.S. Marine Corps helicopters operating in South Vietnam begin to use the "Eagle Flight" tactic, in which Marine transport helicopters circle contested areas and drop off South Vietnamese troops when and where they are needed to block escaping Viet Cong forces.[6] It will become a proven tactic by the middle of July.[19]
Flying a Dassault Mirage IIIC over a 100-kilometer (62-mile) closed circuit at Istres, France, French aviator Jacqueline Auriol sets a women's world speed record of 1,850.2 km/h (1,149.7 mph).
July 8 – Alitalia Flight 771, a Douglas DC-8-43, crashes 11 km (6.8 mi) northwest of Junnar, India, while on approach to a landing at Bombay 84 km (52 mi) to the northeast. All 94 people on board die.
July 17 – U.S. Air Force MajorRobert M. White pilots a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 314,750 feet (59.6 miles, 96 km). He reaches a maximum speed of 3,784 mph (6,093 km/h) during the flight.[20]
July 22 – The Bristol BritanniaEmpress of Lima, operating as Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301, experiences problems with an engine just after takeoff from Honolulu International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii. Returning to the airport on three engines, it aborts its first landing attempt and begins a go around, during which it crashes, killing 27 of the 40 people on board. It is the worst commercial air accident and second-worst aviation accident in the history of Hawaii.[21]
August 4 – Yemen Airlines, the future Yemenia, receives its operating license, becoming the flag carrier of the Yemen Arab Republic, also known as North Yemen.
August 24 – In Iowa, Don Piccard sets a world altitude record for second-class balloons of 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) during a flight of 2 hours 2 minutes from Sioux City to Kennebec.[23]
August 29 – An American Lockheed U-2 photographs the entire island of Cuba, revealing for the first time the presence of eight Soviet surface-to-air missile sites along Cuba's northwest coast designed to provide strategic air defense of Cuba from the United States.[24]
September 14 – Over Edwards Air Force Base, California, a United States Air ForceB-58A-10-CF Hustler reaches an altitude of 26,017.93 meters (85,360.7 feet) carrying a 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) payload. The flight sets two new world records, breaking the altitude record for a flight carrying a 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) payload and for a flight carrying a 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) payload.[27]
U.S. Marine Corps helicopters fly a combat mission from Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, for the first time, airlifting South Vietnamese troops into the hills south of Da Nang.[19]
The U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy suffer their first helicopter fatalities in Vietnam when a Marine Corps UH-34 Seahorse crashes 15 miles (24 km) from Tam Ky, South Vietnam, killing five Marines and two Navy personnel.[29]
October 23 – In Operation Blue Moon, six U.S. Navy RF-8 Crusaderphotographic reconnaissance aircraft flying from Key West, Florida, conduct the first American low-level flights over Cuba, flying at 400 mph (640 km/h) only a few hundred feet off the ground.[31]
U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr., asks the U.S. Air Force to assist in providing aerial surveillance of the sea approaches to Cuba. Chief of Staff of the United States Air ForceGeneralCurtis LeMay agrees to do so, adding that Air Force Strategic Air Command crews will find all Soviet shipping in the area in four hours. Several B-52 Stratofortress bombers and RB-47K Stratojet weather reconnaissance aircraft and 16 Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter aerial tankers make surveillance flights, but their crews' inexperience in maritime reconnaissance leads them to report American, British, and Greek cargo ships as Soviet ones.[33]
Convair delivers the last B-58 Hustler, a B-58A-20-CF, serial number 61-20280, to the U.S. Air Force. The production run ends after the construction of 116 B-58s. The B-58 is the world's only supersonic bomber.[34]
The British and French governments agree to collaboration between British Aircraft Corporation and Sud-Aviation in the development of a supersonic airliner. The agreement will lead to the development of the Concorde.[36]
A model of the UH-1B Iroquois helicopter specifically modified at the factory to serve in an attack helicopter role – the first such U.S. Army helicopter – begins to arrive in South Vietnam.[37]
U.S. Marine Corps transport helicopters in South Vietnam begin to employ "Tiger Flight" tactics, in which Marine Corps helicopters fly to nearby bases to embark South Vietnamese troops as a quick-reaction force to reinforce ground operations.[38]
December 8 – British troops are airlifted to Borneo to quell uprisings in the region.
December 15 – The U.S. Navy reports that the last Soviet offensive weapons – 15 crated Ilyushin Il-28 (NATO reporting name "Beagle") bombers – have been removed from Cuba.[40]
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN0-89009-771-2, pp. 57–58.
Angelucci, Enzo (1987). The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present. New York: Orion Books. ISBN0-517-56588-9.
Chinnery, Philip D. (1991). Vietnam: The Helicopter War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-875-5.
Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN0-7607-0592-5.
