1926 in aviation

Events
United Airlines established.

January
January 6 - Deutsche Lufthansa is formed by the merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr

January 26 - The Plus Ultra, a Dornier Do J hydroplane completes a Trans-Atlantic flight with a crew of Spanish aviators, including Ramón Franco and Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz.

March
March 1 - Four Royal Air Force Fairey IIIDs begin a long-distance flight, taking them from Cairo to Cape Town and then on to Lee-on-Solent, England, where they will arrive on June 2.

March 16 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fuelled rocket near Auburn, Massachusetts.
April
April 1 - Italian airline Società Italiana Servizi Aerei begins operations linking Trieste, Venice, Pavia, and Turin with Cant 10 flying boats.

April 6 - Varney Speed Lines begins operations in the US. It will later become Continental Airlines

April 30 - Bessie Coleman, the first licensed African-American female pilot was killed along with mechanic William Wills, who was piloting the plane, after they crashed as a result of a wrench that Wills had accidentally left loose and that got stuck in the control gears.

May
May 9 - Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett make the first flight over the North Pole in a Fokker VIIa-3m.

May 11 - 14 – Roald Amundsen makes the first airship flight over the North Pole. The Norge leaves Spitsbergen and arrives in Teller, Alaska three days later.

June
June 30 - Alan Cobham sets out on a round trip from England to Australia in a de Havilland DH.50. He will arrive back in London on October 1 and receive a knighthood for his accomplishment.

July
July 1 - A Blackburn Dart makes the first night landing on an aircraft carrier, HMS Furious

July 2 - the United States Army Air Service becomes the United States Army Air Corps.

July 24 - two Lufthansa Junkers G.24s leave Berlin to make a round-trip to Beijing. They will return on September 26.

October
October 21 - British airship R.33 makes further parasite fighter tests, releasing two Gloster Grebes from 2,500 ft (762 m).

November
November 13 - Schneider Trophy race flown at Hampton Roads, USA. Won by Mario De Bernardi (Italy) in a Macchi M.39 at 396.698 km/h (246.5 mph).

November 15 - T. Neville Stack and B. S. Leete leave England in an attempt to reach India by air in a de Havilland DH.60. They will arrive in Karachi on January 8, 1927.

First flights
Boulton Paul Sidestrand

April
April 24 - Handley Page Harrow (HP.31)

May
May 7 - Blériot 127

June
June 19 - Blackburn Iris
June 26 - Avro Tutor

October
October 27 - Blériot 165

Entered service

June
June 16 - Armstrong Whitworth Argosy with Imperial Airways

August
Lioré et Olivier 21 with Air Union

September
Martin T3M with the United States Navy

December
SABCA S-2 with SABENA