1946 in aviation

Years in aviation: 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Centuries: 19th Century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years: 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1946:

Events

January 1 - a British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian becomes the first commercial flight to depart Heathrow Airport
January 10 - a Sikorsky R5 sets an unofficial helicopter altitude record of 6,400 m (21,000 ft) at Stratford, Connecticut.
January 26 - Col William Councill sets a new US transcontinental speed record of 4 hours 13 minutes in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

February 6 - TWA makes its first international flight, from New York to Paris
February 11 - U.S. and British negotiators reach the Bermuda Agreement, the first bilateral agreement regulating air transport. The two countries agree to fix transatlantic air fares through the International Air Transport Association.

March 8 - the Bell 47 receives the first type certificate awarded to a commercial helicopter.
March 21 - Strategic Air Command of the United States Army Air Force is formed.

June 15 - the Navy's new Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, gives its first public performance at Craig Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
June 21 - a USAF P-80 Shooting Star carries the first airmail flown by jet.

September 7 - a Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor established a new world absolute air speed record of 615.65 mph (990.79 km/h) flown by Group Captain E.M. Donaldson off the coast of West Sussex, England.
September 16 - Italian airline Alitalia was formed.
September 19 - Portuguese airline Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP) is formed.
September 27 - Geoffrey de Havilland Jr is killed when the de Havilland DH.108 breaks up in mid-air
September 29 - a United States Navy Lockheed P2V Neptune sets a new distance record of 11,235 miles (18,082 km)

October 3 – A Berlin-bound 4 engine Douglas C-54 named 'Flagship New England' crashed into a mountainside outside of Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. The flight, operated by American Overseas Airlines was mostly carrying wives and children of US Army personnel serving in post-war Germany. All 39 people on board died. At the time, it was the worst accident of its kind among US civilian airlines.

November 23 - An Avro Lancastrian powered with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets is credited with the first international passenger jet flight from London to Paris. The flight time was just 41 minutes.