1979 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1979:

Events

January

January 12 - Pilatus Aircraft acquires Britten-Norman

February

February 26 - Production of the A-4 Skyhawk ends after 26 years, with the delivery of the 2,690th and final aircraft to the United States Marine Corps.

March

March 10 - The US Air Force sends E-3 Sentry aircraft to monitor the civil war in Yemen
March 25 - Qantas retires its last Boeing 707 and becomes the world's first airline with a fleet of exclusively Boeing 747s

May

May 16 - a New York Airways Sikorsky S-61 tips over while taking on passengers at the Pan Am Building in New York City, killing four. The heliport is permanently closed afterward.
May 25 - American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago during take-off, killing all 271 on board and two more on the ground. DC-10s are then grounded across the US.

June

June 12 - Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel using pedal power.
June 27 - Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagles shoot down four Syrian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s

July

July 23 - the British government announces plans to privatise British Airways and publicly sell British Aerospace shares.

August

August 14 - Steve Hinton sets a new piston-engined airspeed record in a specially-modified P-51 Mustang named the Red Baron. He reaches 499 mph (803 km/h) over Nevada.
August 17 - Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156

October

October 30 - Sir Barnes Wallis dies, aged 82.

November

November 29 - an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes on the Mt Erebus volcano, killing all aboard.

December

December 25 - Antonov An-12s and An-22s airlift the first Soviet troops into Afghanistan. 5,000 arrive in the first 24 hours.

First flights

February

February 28 - PAC Cresco

March

March 9 - Dassault Mirage 4000
March 22 - CP-140 Aurora

April

April 10 - Westland WG.30 G-BGHF
April 19 - Learjet 55

May

May 15 - Dassault Mirage 50
May 18 - Piper PA-42 Cheyenne

June

June 12 - Rutan Long-EZ prototype, N79RA

July

July 24 - Bell XV-15

October

October 27 - Panavia Tornado ADV

November

November 30 - Piper Malibu

December

December 12 - SH-60 Seahawk 161169
December 14 - Edgley Optica G-BGMW
December 21 - NASA AD-1
December 22 - Aérospatiale Epsilon

Entered service

January

January 6 - F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing USAF.

1979 in Aviation Pictures

More aircraft.

Source: WikiPedia