1937 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1937:

Events

The Hawker Hurricane enters service as the Royal Air Force's first monoplane fighter.
Over Tushino airfield near Moscow, Soviet aircraft fly in precise formations spelling "LENIN,", "STALIN," and "USSR."
Cuba establishes a naval aviation arm.

January

January 12 - Adventurer and filmmaker Martin Johnson, of Martin and Osa Johnson fame, is killed along with four others in the crash of Western Air Express Flight 7 in mountainous terrain near Saugus, California.
January 19 - Howard Hughes sets a new record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

March

March 5 - Imperial Airways opens a new flying boat base at Hythe, Hampshire.

April

April 9 - The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London - it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
April 12 - Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England.
April 26 - During the Spanish Civil War, Luftwaffe Heinkel He.111 bombers of Legion Condor attack Guernica, Spain, in the first example of "carpet bombing" to demoralize a civilian population. Over three hours, the bombers drop 45,000 kg (99,207 lbs) of bombs, destroying 70% of the city and killing a third of the inhabitants (over 1,600 people). The town burns for three days.
April 30 - Nationalist Spanish battleship Espax±a sunk by air attack by Republican forces.

May

May 6 - German zeppelin Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed whilst attempting to dock with its mooring mast at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

June

June 18-20, Valery Chkalov, G.F.Baidukov, A.V.Belyakov flew from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, USA via the North Pole in a Tupolev ANT-25.

July

July 3, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear on a flight from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island, and are never seen again.
July 3-6 - Pan Am and Imperial Airways flying boats conduct joint survey flights over the Atlantic in preparation for the commencement of regular services.
July 7 - The Marco Polo Bridge Incident begins the Second Sino-Japanese War.
July 11 - The Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy agree that if a full-scale war breaks out with China, the army will have the responsibility for operations in northern China and the navy in central and southern China.
July 12-14 - Mikhail Gromov, A. B. Yumashev, and S. A. Danilin establish a new distance record of 10,148 km (6,303 miles) from Moscow to San Jacinto, California, USA via the North Pole in a Tupolev ANT-25, covering the distance in 62 hours 17 minutes.

August

August 14 - On the second day of the Battle of Shanghai, Nationalist Chinese aircraft attack Imperial Japanese Navy ships anchored in the Whangpoo River during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
August 14 - Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa orders Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers to begin strikes against the coast of China, beginning several months of such operations.
August 14-15 - Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi G3M bombers based at Taihoku on Formosa and Ōmura on Kyūshū conduct over-ocean raids on Nationalist Chinese bases 400 to 500 miles (644 to 805 km) inland, demonstrating an operational range that astonishes both foreign observers and those of the Imperial Japanese Army.
August 15 - Lufthansa begins seaplane services between the Azores and New York with the assistance of seaplane tenders stationed along the route.

September

The Mitsubishi A5M fighter enters service, allowing the Imperial Japanese Navy to gain air superiority in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese soon gain control of the skies over Shanghai.
September 1 - Air Canada, Canada's largest airline, began operations.
September 19-22 - Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A5M fighters conduct a successful campaign to eliminate Chinese air resistance over Nanking.

October

Imperial Japanese Navy bomber operations against Nanking resume, and continue through the autumn.

November

To disrupt the Soviet Union's efforts to supply China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Imperial Japanese Navy bombers begin strikes on Lanchou. Navy and Imperial Japanese Army bomber strikes on Lanchou will occur for the next several years.
November 16 - A Sabena Junkers Ju 52 en route from Cologne, Germany to London via Brussels crashed near Ostend with 11 on board. All aboard were killed, including the Grand Duke and eight-months pregnant Grand Duchess of Hesse and their two small sons.

December

Major air battles take place between Imperial Japanese Navy and Nationalist Chinese aircraft over Nanchang on December 9 and December 22, during which the Japanese claim the destruction of 29 Chinese aircraft in the air and 25 on the ground.
December 9 - During combat over Nanchang, an Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A5M fighter loses a third of its right wing when it is rammed by a Nationalist Chinese Curtiss Hawk, but flies 200 miles (322 km) back to base without further mishap.

First flights

January

January 13 - Fairey Fulmar

February

February 9 - Blackburn Skua

March

Miles Magister
March 10 - Hawker Henley

April

April 10 - Junkers Ju 88 V2 D-AREN

May

May 7 - Lockheed XC-35
May 20 - de Havilland Albatross
May 25 - Gasuden Koken
Arado Ar 196

June

June 18 - de Havilland Don
June 19 - Airspeed Oxford
June 22 - de Havilland Moth Minor

July

July 27 - Short Mayo Flying-boat / seaplane composite
July 27 - Focke-Wulf Fw 200 prototype D-AERE
July 29 - Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra

August

August 11 - Boulton Paul Defiant prototype K8310

September

September 1 - Bell YFM-1 Airacuda
September 13 - Junkers Ju 88 V3 D-ASAZ

October

October 16 - Short S.25 K 4774, prototype of the Short Sunderland
October 16 - Fokker T.V

December

Brewster B-139, prototype of the Brewster Buffalo
December 24 - Macchi C.200

Entered service

February

Gloster Gladiator with No. 3 and No. 72 Squadron RAF

March

March 4 - YB-17 Flying Fortress with U.S. 2nd Bombardment Group
March 9 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitley with No. 10 Squadron RAF
Bristol Blenheim with No. 114 Squadron RAF

April

Vickers Wellesley
Junkers Ju 87 with I/StG 162
April 16 - Supermarine Stranraer

May

May 20 - Fairey Battle with No. 63 Squadron RAF

October

Miles Magister
TBD Devastator with VT-3 aboard USS Saratoga

November

Airspeed Oxford

December

SB2U Vindicator with VB-3 aboard USS Saratoga

1937 in Aviation Pictures

More aircraft.

Source: WikiPedia