1939 in aviation

January
January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve is formed

February
February 9 - Alex Henshaw sets a new speed record for the round trip between England and Cape Town in 4 days 10 minutes in a Percival Mew Gull

March
March 30 - Hans Dieterle sets a new airspeed record in a Heinkel He 100 of 746 km/h (464 mph).

April
April 28 - Vladimir Kokkinaki and Mikhail Godienko attempt a non-stop flight from the Soviet Union to New York but are forced down on Miscou Island in bad weather the next day.

June
June 16 - Air France commences hourly flights from Paris to London

June 28 - Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force is formed.

July 20
July 6, Olga Klepikowa sets a world record by flying a glider 746 km (466 miles) from Moscow to Otradnoje.

July 20 - first flight powered by liquid-fuelled rocket made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 176

August
August 11 - Pan American World Airways begins scheduled flights from New York, New York to Southampton, England.

August 26 - the Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph).

August 27 - first flight made entirely on turbojet power made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 178

September
September 1 - Germany invades Poland. The Luftwaffe plays a key tactical bombing role in neutralising Polish defences.

September 3 - Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War II breaks out.

September 3 - Paratroops are used for the first time, with German units dropped into Silesia, behind Polish lines.

September 3 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys are used to drop propaganda leaflets into German cities.

September 4 - first British bombs of the war dropped on German targets, with a Bristol Blenheim of 110 Squadron attacking the German fleet.

October
October 8 - First RAF victory of World War II when a Lockheed Hudson shoots down a Dornier Do 18 over Jutland.

October 16 - the Luftwaffe attacks its first British targets - Royal Navy warships in the Firth of Forth.

November
the Luftwaffe begins dropping sea mines around the British coastline.

November 24 - BOAC is formed by the merger of Imperial Airways and the original British Airways.

November 30 - Soviet air raids on Helsinki and Viipuri mark the outbreak of the Winter War.

December
December 18 - the Royal Air Force abandons daylight raids on Germany after a raid by Vickers Wellingtons takes heavy losses.

December 26 - the first RAAF squadrons to join the war arrive in Britain

First flights

January
January 27 - Lockheed XP-38

March
March 31 - Miles Master production aircraft N7408

April
April 1 - Mitsubishi Zero
April 22 - Aeronautica Umbra Trojani AUT.18 M.M.363

May
May 7 - Petlyakov VI-100
May 14 - Short Stirling

June
June 1 - Focke-Wulf Fw 190

July
July 17 - Bristol Beaufighter prototype R2052
July 20 - Heinkel He 176, first aircraft powered by liquid-fuelled rocket
July 25 - Avro Manchester prototype L7246

August
August 13 - Vickers Warwick
August 27 - Heinkel He 178, first aircraft powered by turbojet

September
September 14 - Sikorsky VS-300, first helicopter to enter mass production.
September 24 - Handley Page Halifax H.P.57 prototype L7244

December
December 29 - Consolidated XB-24

Entered service

February
Lockheed Hudson with No. 224 Squadron RAF

August
Miles Master

October
Bristol Beaufort with No. 22 Squadron RAF (Coastal Command)

December
Boulton Paul Defiant with No. 264 Squadron RAF