1942

1942

Jan 14th - Fist flight of the Sikorsky XR-4 helicopter prototype made at Stratford, Connecticut.
Jan 28th - 2 North American Mustang 1s used by the RAF sent to Development Fighting Unit Duxford. First operational Sqdn to receive them was No 26 with the first operational sortie over france on May 5th.

Feb 10th - The last RAF Fighters withdrawn from Singapore to bases in Sumatra.
Feb 22nd - First U.S.A.A F. HQ in Europe established in UK. Air Vice Marshall Arthur Harris appointed C-in C- RAF Bomber Command.

Mar - First flight of Meserschmitt Me 323 large capacity transport, powered version of the Me 321 glider.
Mar 3rd - RAF No 44 Sqdn. first operational sortie with the new Avro Lancaster bombers mine laying in the Heligond Bight.
Mar 25th - Unsuccesful test fkight of the first Me 262 V1 prototype powered by 2 BMW turbojets.

Apr 12th -3 U.S.A.A.F. B-17s and 10 25s based in Australia make the first attack against Japanese shipping and installations in the Philippines.
April 20th -Maltas air defence reinforced by 47 Spitfires off the U.S,S. Wasp 660 miles west of the island.

May 26th - First flight of Northrop XP-61 U.S.A.A.F's first radar equipped night fighter. The P6-61 Black Widow enters operational use in the Pacific in 1944.
May 30th - RAF Bomber Command mounts its first "thousand bomber" raid against Cologne. 1046 aircraft took part of which 599 were Vickers Wellingtons.
May 31st - RAF use de Havilland Mosquitos from N0.105 Sqdn.for the first time in a daylight attack on Cologne.

June 3rd - Vickers Wellingtons of No 172 Sqdn RAF make a night attack on an enemy submarine using a leigh light to illuminate its target.
June 13th - The German A4 (V2) rocket is launched for the first time at Peenemunde but crashes.
June 26th - First flight of the Grumman XF6F-3 Hellcat prototype which becomes a significant Allied shipboard fighter of the Second World War.

July 1st - First aircraft to begin equipping the U.S. Eigth Army Air Force in the UK.lands at Prestwich.
July 4th -6 crews of the U.S. A.A.F. make the first bomber mission of the Second World War flying RAF Douglas Bostons attacking 4 enemy held airfields in Holland.
July 18th - First jet-powered flight made by the Messerscnitt Me 262V-3 prototype fitted with 2 Junkers 109-004A tubojets.

Aug 15th - The RAF's Pathfinder Force is formed under the c ommand of Air Commodore D.C.T.Bennett.
Aug 16th - First exploratory use of the Pathfinder Force was made in an attack on Emden Germany.
Aug 24th - The first Junkers Ju 86P-2 very high altitude pressurised reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted and destroyed by an RAF Spifire VC from Alexandria at 42000ft, although the pilot had no pressurised protection at that height.

Sept 1st - RAF and US Navy Catalinas disperse a "wolf pack" of German submarines attacking a west-bound North Atlantic convoy. One submarine was sunk.
Sept 2nd - The first flight of a Hawker Tempest prototype Mk V built as a conversion of a Hawker Typhoon.
Sept 21st - The first flight of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress prototype was made at Seattle Washington.
Sept 25th - A low-level attack on the Gestapo HQ. in Oslo was made by Mosquito bombers of the RAF's No 105 Sqdn.

Oct 1st - First flight of a Bell Xp-59A airacomet prototype , the first turbo-jet aircraft to fly in the USA.
Oct 3rd - The first fully successful launch of a German A4 (V2) ballistic rocket at Peenemunde.

Nov 15th - First flight of the Heinkel He 219 twin-engined night fighter prototype. It was the Luftwaffe's first operational aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear and the first in the word with crew ejection seats. I became operational in June 1943.

Dec 20th - Mosquito bombers of No 109 Sqdn. equipped with Oboe radar were used in a night Pathfinder operation for the first time.