Home > 1972 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1972:

1 Events

January

• January 5 - US President Richard Nixon announces $US 5.5 billion in funding for the Space Shuttle programNASA's Space Shuttle officially called Space Transportation System (STS is the United States' (sole) manned launch vehicle. It is partly reusable, and is the world's first spacecraft to be designed with this capacity. It is used to carry large payloads to
• January 27January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 338 days remaining (339 in leap years). Events 1606 Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begin and later ends in their execution on January 31. 1785 The - Civil aviation in CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe is halted by a stike by air traffic controllerAir traffic controllers are persons who operate the air traffic control system to expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic and help prevent mid-air collisions. They apply separation rules to keep each aircraft apart in their area of res

February

• February 5February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 329 days remaining (330 in leap years). Events 1576 Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France. 1631 Roger Williams emigra - AeroflotAeroflot — Russian Airlines ( Russian: — ), or Aeroflot , is the Russian national airline and is the biggest carrier in Russia. It was also the national airline of the Soviet Union and the largest airline in the world. It is based in the Aerostar Hotel at and LufthansaLufthansa is the name of the largest German airline company, headquartered in Cologne. Their main base at Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt am Main which is also Lufthansa's primary traffic hub. The company has developed a second hub at Munich' jointly open services between MoscowMoscow ( Russian: Moskva capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 878. The city's population is rapidly increasing, with 11. 2 million inhabitants counted in 2004. The city is in the federal district called Central Russia (which is and Frankfurt-am-Main
• February 5 - NASA and de Havilland Canada extensively modify a C-8 Buffalo for STOL experiments

April

• April 1 - BOAC and BEA are merged to creat British Airways
• April 25 - Hans-Werner Grosse sets a new sailplane distance record of 1,460 km (908 miles) in a Schleicher ASW.12
• April 27 - US Air Force F-4 Phantoms destroy the Thanh Hoa bridge with laser-guided bombs.

May

• May 10 - Lts Randy Cunningham and J G William become the first US Navy aces of the Vietnam War, adding three Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17s to their tally on this day alone.
• May 26 - the United States and Soviet Union sign the SALT-1 strategic arms limitation treaty
• May 26 - Cessna builds its 100,000th aircraft, the first company in the world to achieve this figure.
• May 30 - three Japanese terrorists attack passengers at Tel Aviv Airport

June

• June 20 - Airline pilots hold a world-wide strike, calling for tighter security
• June 21 - Jean Boulet pilots a Aérospatiale Lama to a new record altitude for helicopters, 12,441 m (40,820 ft)

July

• July 26 - NASA announces Rockwell International as prime contractor for the Space Shuttle Orbiter

August

• August 1 - Delta Air Lines absorbs Northeast Airlines
• August 11 - NATO signs a development contract for the MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme, which will eventually result in the Panavia Tornado
• August 28 - Cpt Richard Richie becomes the first US Air Force ace of the Vietnam War.
• August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester is killed in the crash of a Piper Cherokee Arrow during the Gordonwood Trophy race.

September

• September 22 - the 1,000th Boeing 727 is sold, a sales record for airliners

October

• October 10 - Competitive fly-off between the Northrop YA-9 and Fairchild YA-10 begins, continuing until December 9.
• October 13 - a Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild FH-227 crashes in the Andes. Survivors resort to eating dead passengers before their rescue two months later.
• October 26 - Igor Sikorsky dies

December

• December 23 - Andrei Tupolev dies, aged 86
• December 26 - 117 B-52 Stratofortresses attack Hanoi in Operation Linebacker II , the largest air assault in the Vietnam War to this time.