1960 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1960:

Events

 * Summer – The United States Navy antisubmarine aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CVS-18) is stationed off the west coast of Africa to cover the evacuation of American nationals from Congo (Kinshasa).

January

 * January 6 – A dynamite bomb explodes aboard National Airlines Flight 2511, a Douglas DC-6B, in mid-air over Bolivia, North Carolina, and the aircraft crashes. All 34 people on board die, including retired United States Navy vice admiral and Medal of Honor recipient Edward Orrick McDonnell. Julian Frank is suspected of being the suicide bomber.

February

 * February 9 – The United States Air Force opens its National Space Surveillance Control Center at Bedford, Massachusetts.
 * February 13 – France detonates its first nuclear weapon.
 * February 25 – A United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 carrying members of the United States Navy Band to Brazil to perform at a diplomatic reception attended by President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower and a Real Transportes Aéreos Douglas DC-3 collide in mid-air 1,600 meters (5,249 feet) over Guanabara Bay close to the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The accident kills 35 of the 38 people aboard the R6D and all 26 people on board the DC-3.

March

 * The Vertol Aircraft Corporation is renamed Boeing Vertol.
 * March 10 – The last flight by a United States Air Force-operated North American B-25 Mitchell takes place, when TB-25J-25-NC, 44-30854, the last Mitchell in the U.S. Air Force inventory, lands at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for preservation.
 * March 17 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, disintegrates in mid-air near Cannelton, Indiana, killing all 63 people on board, after metal fatigue causes its right wing to separate at an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,486 m) . Among the dead is Central Intelligence Agency training commander Chiyoki Ikeda.
 * March 18 – A Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 377 Stratocruiser makes a 300-foot (91-meter) emergency dive to avoid colliding with two Air National Guard jets over Lansing, Michigan. Among the passengers is Morris Chalfen, producer of the Holiday on Ice skating shows, whose wife and three children had died the previous day on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710.

April

 * April 6 – The British Short SC.1 VTOL research aircraft makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight and back, flying from Belfast Harbour Airport.
 * April 13 – The United Kingdom terminates ballistic missile research, preferring to simply purchase the U.S.-developed GAM-87 Skybolt missile.
 * April 14 – A Thai-C-54 Skymaster crashes into Mount Wu Tse after takeoff from Taipei, Taiwan. Eighteen people die, including the chief of the Air Force of Thailand, Air Marshal Chalermkiat Watanangura, and his wife.

May

 * May 1 – The Soviet Union shoots down a Central Intelligence Agency Lockheed U-2 near Sverdlovsk and captures its pilot, Gary Powers.
 * May 12 – A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules drops a record 35,000 lb (15,876 kg) by parachute.

June

 * The first Fouga Magister aircraft assembled in Israel roll off the assembly line of a former glider manufacturing company, which simultaneously renames itself Israel Aircraft Industries.

July

 * Fidel Castro dissolves Cuba's naval air arm.
 * July 1
 * A Soviet Air Defense Forces MiG-19 (NATO reporting name "Farmer") shoots down a U.S. Air Force RB-47H Stratojet (s/n 53-4281) reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace with four of the crew killed and two captured by the Soviets.
 * The U.S. Navy commissions Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 40 (VRC-40) as its first carrier onboard delivery squadron.

August

 * August 16 – U.S. Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger sets a world record for the highest parachute jump (102,200 ft or 31,150m) and longest parachute freefall (84,700 ft or 25,815 m) while testing high-altitude parachute escape systems in Project Excelsior. The record will stand until October 14, 2012.
 * August 18 – A C-119 Flying Boxcar recovers a data capsule from the Discoverer 14 satellite in mid-air.

September

 * September 5 – A United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II sets a world speed record over a 500-km (310.5-mi) closed-circuit course, averaging 1,216.78 mph (1,958.16 km/hr).
 * September 10 – NORAD carries out Operation Skyshield, testing American and Canadian radar systems.
 * September 25 – A U.S. Navy F4H-1 Phantom II sets a world speed record over a 100-km (62.1-mi) closed-circuit course, averaging 1,390.21 mph (2,237.26 km/hr).

December

 * The Royal Navy retires it last piston-engined fixed-wing aircraft, the Douglas Skyraider, from front-line service.
 * December 6 – Brazil commissions its first aircraft carrier, Minas Gerais. She is the second Latin American aircraft carrier to enter service.


 * December 17
 * A U.S. Air Force Convair C-131D Samaritan crashes due to fuel contamination shortly after takeoff from Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. It crashes in the Ludwigsvorstadt borough of downtown Munich, striking a crowded two-section Munich streetcar. All 20 people on the plane and 32 people on the ground die.
 * December 20 – After delivering the last P5M-2 Marlin flying boat to the U.S. Navy, the Glenn L. Martin Company ceases the production of manned aircraft.

April

 * Antonov An-24 (NATO reporting name "Coke")
 * April 19 - Grumman A2F-1, A-6 Intruder prototype

May

 * May 9 - Auster D.6 G-25-10
 * May 31 - Aeritalia G91T

June

 * June 24 - Avro 748

October

 * Beriev Be-12 Tchaika (NATO reporting name "Mail")
 * Dassault Mirage IIIC (production model)
 * October 21 - Hawker P.1127 (tethered flight)
 * October 21 - Grumman W2F-1 Hawkeye
 * October 25 - Boeing Vertol Model 107, predecessor to the CH-46 Sea Knight.

November

 * Beechcraft Baron Model 56
 * November 16 - Canadair CL-44
 * November 16 - Procaer Cobra

December

 * Agusta A.104 I-AGUM
 * December 4 - Enstrom F-28
 * December 6 - Sikorsky S-61L
 * December 9 - DINFIA IA 38

June

 * June 29 - English Electric Lightning with the Royal Air Force's No. 74 Squadron at RAF Coltishall