The Prix Solex, a competition in France offering a prize of 55,000 FF requiring a flight of about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Paris to Rouen using less than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of gasoline and oil, takes place. Maurice Drouhin wins in a Salmson 3 Ad-powered Farman Aviette.
April 13 - The first scheduled air freight service begins in the United States.
May 4 – Italian legislation sets the peacetime strength of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) at 182 squadrons, with 78 of them assigned directly to the air force, 69 to the Italian Royal Army, and 35 to the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy). The army and navy are given temporary command of the squadrons assigned to them for the length of time it takes to train them for wartime operations.[11]
June
June 10 – Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo and his mechanic, Ernesto Campanelli, arrive at Melbourne, Australia, after a 50-day flight from Rome in the SIAI S.16terflying boatGennariello during which they have made 27 intermediate stops without serious mishaps. They will remain in Melbourne for 36 days before continuing their journey through Australia and to Japan.[8]
June 24 - Off New England, a U.S. Coast Guard Vought UO-1 becomes the first aircraft to assist in the capture of a rum-runner.[12]
July
July 1 – The United States Post Office Department inaugurates 24-hour transcontinental air mail service. Previously, mailplanes had not flown at night and trains had carried the mail during the hours of darkness, but the completion of a coast-to-coast system of lighted beacons has allowed night flying to become practical along the entire route. The day-and-night flying allows the transcontinental air mail service to deliver mail notably faster than train-only service for the first time.[13]
July 16 – Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo and his mechanic Ernesto Campanelli resume their flight from Italy to East Asia and the Western Pacific, flying from Melbourne to Sydney, Australia, in the SIAI S.16terflying boatGennariello after a 36-day stay in Melbourne. They had left Rome 86 days earlier and made 28 intermediate stops before arriving in Sydney. They will remain in Sydney for 21 days before continuing their journey through Australia and to Japan.[8]
August
The Italian government's Commission for Aeronautics is replaced by a new Ministry of Aeronautics. The Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force), formerly subordinate to the commission, is subordinated to the new ministry.[14]
August 7–9 – Flying in France on the route Chartres–Étampes–Toussus-le-Noble–Chartres, the French aviators Jules Landry and Maurice Drouhin set a closed-circuit distance record of 4,400 kilometers (2,700 miles) in 45 hours 11 minutes 59 seconds in a Farman F.62.
August 31 – U.S. Navy CommanderJohn Rodgers and his crew take off from San Francisco, California in a PN-9flying boat in an attempt to make the first transpacific flight from North America to the Hawaiian Islands. They are forced down in the Pacific Ocean on September 1 after flying 1,841.12 statute miles (2,964.77 km) nonstop. The four then sail the aircraft as a boat 450 nautical miles (830 kilometres) farther toward Hawaii before being picked up by the U.S. Navy submarine USS R-4 (SS-81) 10 nautical miles (19 kilometres) north of Kauai on September 10. Although unsuccessful, their flight sets a world nonstop distance record for Class C seaplanes which will stand until 1930.[15]
September
The CzechoslovakianAvia BH-21R racer wins the Czechoslovakian national air races, covering the 200 km (120 mi) course at an average speed of 300.59 km/h (186.78 mph).[3]: 72
September 1 – After modifications, the aircraft carrierHMS Furious returns to service with the Royal Navy as the first ship ever to be equipped with a round-down[16]: 215 Located at the after end of her flight deck, the round-down, which improves air flow and gives pilots landing aboard Furious greater confidence, will become standard on aircraft carriers.[16]: 12
September 2 – The U.S. Navy dirigibleUSS Shenandoah (ZR-1) breaks up in a storm and crashes near Caldwell, Ohio, killing 14 of her crew. Twenty-nine crew members survive.
September 3 – The Spanish Navy aviation ship Dédalo, the only ship ever built capable of operating airships, balloons, and seaplanes, accompanies a Spanish fleet to Morocco to participate in the Rif War. Her aircraft and one of the airships she operates support the Spanish campaign to capture Ajir, which falls on October 2. She is the only European aviation ship to see combat between the end of the Russian Civil War and the beginning of World War II.[17]: 103, 105
September 23 – The Bolivian airline Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano begins flight operations, flying a Junkers F.13 which takes off from Cochabamba, Bolivia.
September 26 – Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo and his mechanic Ernesto Campanelli arrive in Tokyo in the SIAI S.16terflying boatGennariello after a 58-day flight from Sydney, Australia, during which they have made 19 intermediate stops. They had departed Rome 158 days earlier and made 48 intermediate stops, including lengthy stays in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, on their way to Tokyo, all without an engine change or any serious mishaps.[8]
October 17 – Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo and his mechanic Ernesto Campanelli depart Tokyo in the SIAI S.16terflying boatGennariello after a 21-day stay to begin the homeward leg of their flight from Rome to Australia and Tokyo and back again. The only engine change of what has so far been a 187-day, 49-stop flight has been made in Tokyo.[9]
American professional baseball player Marv Goodwin of the Cincinnati Reds is seriously injured during reserve duty with the United States Army Air Service when the plane he is piloting during a training exercise goes into a tailspin at an altitude of 200 feet (61 meters) and crash-lands at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. He will die of his injuries on October 21, the first professional athlete killed as the result of a plane crash.[21]
In mid-month, Farman Aviation Workstest pilot Louis Bossoutrot sets several load-related world aviation records in the prototype of the Farman F.140 Super Goliath, reaching an altitude of 4,990 meters (16,370 feet) with a useful load of 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds), an altitude of 3,586 meters (11,765 feet) with a useful load of 5,000 kilograms (11,000 pounds) and a flight duration of 1 hour 12 minutes 21 seconds, and an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) with a greatest useful load of 6,000 kilograms (13,000 pounds).
^ abcdeAngelucci, Enzo (1987). The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present. New York: Orion Books. ISBN978-0-517-56588-9.
^ abcdDonald, David, ed. (1997). The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN0-7607-0592-5.
^Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 30. ISBN978-0-87021-313-7.
^Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN978-0-521-85602-7, p. 58.
^Jensen, Richard, "The Suicide Club," Aviation History, May 2017, pp. 63, 64, 65.
^Gardiner, Robert, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985, ISBN0-87021-907-3, p. 252.
^ abcLayman, R. D. (1989). Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922. Annapolis. ISBN978-0-87021-210-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ abThetford, Owen (1991). British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 (Sixth ed.). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 123. ISBN1-55750-076-2.
^"Air Accidents in the Fog". The Times. No. 44095. London. 17 October 1925. col D, p. 12.
