•
Mexicana de Aviación begins service. • The
Imperial Japanese Navy acquires its first
rigid and
semi-rigid airships. • In an early experiment with the use of airplanes to attack large ships at sea,
French Navy Capitaine de corvette (
Corvette Captain)
Paul Teste makes a shallow mock
dive-bombing attack on the
battleship during fleet maneuvers and places a dummy practice bomb only off
Bretagne's
bow. Teste's plane crashes into the sea during his pullout maneuver, but he survives unharmed. • The
Italian General Giulio Douhet publishes his highly influential book
Command of the Air. In it, he argues that the ability of aircraft to fly over armies and navies renders those forces of secondary importance; that the vastness of the sky makes defense against bombers impossible; that only offensive bombing to destroy the enemys air force can allow a country to achieve command of the air; that once it is achieved, a bombing campaign can be carried out against enemy "vital centers", including industry, transportation, government, communications, and "the will of the people;" and that success against enemy civilian morale in particular would be the key to victory. • When the Italian Chief of the Naval Staff
Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel argues for the development of
aircraft carriers, saying "the development and use of aeroplanes in wars on our seas and along our coasts is today the most essential element of national defense," Minister of the Navy Admiral
Giovanni Sechi replies that aircraft carriers are unnecessary in an enclosed sea like the
Mediterranean and that a perfectly good substitute for them is "a well-organized network of coastal air stations."
January • January 6 – After modifications, returns to service with the
Royal Navy as the worlds first
aircraft carrier equipped with
palisades. Installed on the port and starboard edges of the
flight deck and capable of being raised and lowered, the palisades when raised serve as a windbreak and prevent aircraft on the flight deck from blowing or rolling overboard in heavy weather.
February • Concerned that the transcontinental
U.S. Air Mail service established in
September 1920 had turned out to be little faster – although much more expensive – than train-only service because the
United States lacks a system of lighted navigation beacons, meaning that air mail pilots could not fly safely at night and trains had to carry air mail along the route during the hours of darkness, Assistant
Postmaster General of the United States Otto Praeger stages four experimental day-and-night air mail flights as a publicity stunt before incoming
President Warren G. Harding can take office on March 4 and appoint his successor. The flights consist of two eastbound and two westbound trips between
New York City and
San Francisco,
California. The two westbound flights become stranded in
Dubois,
Pennsylvania, and
Chicago,
Illinois. The first eastbound flight ends in tragedy when the
de Havilland DH-4B carrying the mail
stalls and crashes after takeoff from
Elko,
Nevada. The only real success is by the second eastbound flight, whose pilot manages to fly at night from
North Platte,
Nebraska, to Chicago. • February 10 – The
United States Army Air Service′s Air Service School at
Langley Field,
Virginia, is renamed the Air Service Field Officers School. • February 26 – French pilot
Adrienne Bolland sets an altitude record of in a
Caudron G.3 flying from
Buenos Aires. • March 28 – The
Government of Australia creates the Civil Aviation Branch as a component of the
Department of Defence. • March 31 – The
Australian Air Force is formed as an independent
air force.
April • April 1 – French pilot
Adrienne Bolland flies a
Caudron G.3 from
Mendoza, Argentina, to
Santiago, the first flight across the
Andes by a woman. • The French airline
Société Générale de Transports Aérien (SGTA) extends its
Paris-
Brussels route to
Amsterdam. It uses the
Farman F.60 Goliath on the route. • May 2 – Italian
World War I ace Giovanni Ancillotto makes a flight across the
Andes in
Peru, flying from
Lima to
Cerro de Pasco in an
Ansaldo A.1 Balilla in 1 hour 35 minutes, after which he spends 15 minutes flying over Cerro de Pasco before landing. He makes the flight at an average altitude of 5,500 meters (18,044 feet), reaches a maximum altitude of 7,000 meters (22,966 feet) while passing
Mount Meiggs, and covers the 123-kilometer (76-mile) portion of the flight from Lima to
La Oroya at an average speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). • May 13 –
Italian Fascist leader
Benito Mussolini qualifies as a pilot. • May 15 – Laura Bromwell sets a womens record for consecutive
loops, looping her airplane 199 consecutive times in 1 hour 20 minutes over
New York State. • May 24 – French pilot
Adrienne Bolland flies a
Caudron G.3 from
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, to
Montevideo,
Uruguay. It is the first flight over the length of the
Río de la Plata by a woman. • May 25 – The
Belgian airline ''
Société Nationale pour l'Etude des Transports Aériens'' (SNETA) opens a
Brussels-
Croydon Airport (London) route, using the
Farman F.60 Goliath.
June •
Boeing wins a $1,448,000 contract to build 200
Thomas-Morse MB-3 fighters for the
US Army, allowing the company to abandon furniture-making. • June 1 – On the second day of the
Tulsa race riot,
whites in six
biplane trainer aircraft from nearby
Curtiss-Southwest Field attack
African-Americans on the ground in the
Greenwood section of
Tulsa,
Oklahoma, with
rifles and
incendiary bombs. • June 5 – Twenty-four-year-old American stunt pilot
Laura Bromwell dies in the crash of her
Curtiss JN Canuck at
Mitchel Field in
Mineola,
Long Island,
New York, when she loses control at the top of a
loop and her aircraft plummets into the ground from an altitude of 1,000 feet (305 m). • June 23 –
Airco DH.10 Amiens aircraft of the
Royal Air Force′s
No. 216 Squadron begin an
air mail service between
Cairo and
Baghdad. • June 28 – The
Air Navigation and Transport Act becomes law. It gives the
British Empire authority over all air navigation in the
British Commonwealth of Nations and their territories and puts the
International Commission for Air Navigation into effect throughout the Commonwealth..
July •
Donald W. Douglas founds the
Douglas Company. • July 7 – Fire destroys the U.S. Navy
blimp C-3 at
Naval Air Station Hampton Roads in
Norfolk,
Virginia. • July 16 – The sixth annual
Aerial Derby is held, sponsored by the
Royal Aero Club, with a trophy and a £500 prize for the overall winner and prizes of £200, £100, and £50 for the first three places in the
handicap competition. Nineteen participants fly over a 102.5-mile (165-kilometer) circuit beginning and ending at
Hendon Aerodrome in
London with control points at
Brooklands,
Esher,
Purley, and
Purfleet; the aircraft fly the circuit twice. J. H. James is both the overall winner and the winner of the handicap competition, completing the course in a
Gloster Mars at an average speed of 163.34 mph (262.87 km/h) in 1 hour 18 minutes 10 seconds with a handicap of 4 minutes 42 seconds. However,
Harry Hawker has been killed on July 12 in a crash while practising. • July 21 –
United States Army Air Service Martin NBS-1 bombers sink the decommissioned German
battleship Ostfriesland in the
Atlantic Ocean off the
Virginia Capes after
Billy Mitchell argued for bombing trials to show the power of aircraft to sink major warships.
August • August 10 – The
United States Department of the Navy establishes the
Bureau of Aeronautics to oversee all matters relating to naval aircraft, personnel, and operations.
United States Marine Corps aviation remains under a separate command, the Director of Aviation at
Headquarters Marine Corps. • August 11 – The 1921
Schneider Trophy race is flown at
Venice, Italy. In an all-Italian field, Giovanni De Briganti wins the race in a
Macchi M.7 with an average speed of 189.7 km/h (117.9 mph). • August 24 – The British
airship R-38 breaks up over
Hull,
Yorkshire, during trials, killing 44 of the 49 people on board. • August 30 – Three
Short aircraft of the naval aviation branch of the
Chilean Army air corps carry out a successful mock raid from
Valparaiso on
Coquimbo. This will influence the eventual Chilean decision to separate naval aviation from army aviation. • August 31 • The Australian Air Force is renamed the
Royal Australian Air Force. • A
hangar fire at
Naval Air Station Rockaway,
New York, destroys the U.S. Navy
blimps
C-10,
D-6, and
H-1 and the
kite balloon A-P.
September • The British 30-man
Sempill Mission, led by
Sir William Francis Forbes-Sempill (Captain, the Master of Sempill), arrives in Japan, bringing with it over 100 aircraft comprising 20 different models. Before it returns to the
United Kingdom in March 1923, the Mission will greatly improve
Imperial Japanese Navy aviation training and understanding of
aircraft carrier flight deck operations and the latest naval aviation tactics and technology, and the aircraft it brings will inspire the design of a number of Japanese naval aircraft of the 1920s. • At
Brussels,
Farman Aviation Works test pilot Louis Bossoutrot wins the
Simonet Cup in a
Farman FF 65 Sport. • September 17 – The first annual
Air League Challenge Cup race is held as the final event in of the
Royal Aero Club's first
Aviation Race Meeting at
Croydon Airport in
London. Competitors race a total of 72 miles (116 km) over a three-lap course in teams of three, with each team member physically passing a baton to the next team member after completing one lap. Three
Royal Air Force teams – dubbed "Red," "White," and "Blue" – are the only entrants, and the Red Team – from
No. 24 Squadron at
RAF Kenley – wins flying an
SE.5a on the first and third laps and an
Avro 504K on the second lap. • September 19 – The first regular scheduled airline service in
Latin America commences, with Colombian airline
SCADTA operating float-equipped
Junkers F.13s between
Barranquilla and
Girandot,
Colombia. • September 27 – A
hangar fire at
Evere Airfield in
Evere,
Belgium, destroys two
SNETA Farman F.60 Goliaths (registration O-BLEU and O-BRUN). • September 28 – Piloting the same
United States Army Air Service Packard-Le Peré LUSAC-11 fighter that set a world altitude record on February 27, 1920,
Lieutenant John A. Macready sets a new world altitude record of 10,518 meters (34,508 feet). Macready receives the
Mackay Trophy for the flight.
October • The
Royal Air Force takes over from the
British Army in assuming policing duties in
Iraq. • October 4 – At
Long Branch,
New Jersey, an inexperienced amateur stunt flier, Madeline Davis, attempts to become the first woman to attempt to transfer from a moving automobile to an airplane flying overhead via a rope ladder. She loses her grip on the ladder and is fatally injured. • October 15 – The
Spanish airline
Compañía Española de Tráfico Aéreo is established. It will eventually form part of the airline
Iberia.
November • November 5 –
Curtiss test pilot
Bert Acosta wins the
Pulitzer Trophy in a
Curtiss CR-2 and establishes a new closed-circuit airspeed record of 284.36 km/h (176.7 mph). • November 12–27 – The sixth ''
Salon d'Aeronautique'' is held in
Paris. The
Breguet 19 is unveiled. • November 19 – Flying a Curtiss CR-2, Bert Acosta sets a new
world speed record of 197.8 mph (318.32 km/h).
December • December 1 – The first flight of a
helium-filled
airship takes place, as the
United States Navys
C-class blimp C-7 flies from
Hampton Roads,
Virginia, to
Washington, D.C. • December 5 –
West Australian Airways commences the first regular air services in
Australia. • December 16 –
USS Wright (AZ-1) is commissioned as the
United States Navys first and only
balloon ship. She is the only U.S. Navy ship ever to bear the
"AZ" designation for "
lighter-than-air craft tender." • December 29–30 –
Edward "Eddie" Stinson and
Lloyd W. Bertaud set a new unrefueled manned
flight endurance record, remaining aloft in a
Junkers-Larsen JL-6 over
Roosevelt Field outside
Mineola,
New York, for 26 hours 19 minutes 35 seconds. It is the first flight endurance record recognized by the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). == First flights ==