January 10: Northwest Airlines Flight 2 crashed near Bozeman, Montana, killing all 10 aboard. The Lockheed 14H Super Electra (registered NC-117388) crashed after the horizontal and vertical stabilizers separated from the aircraft, probably due to excessive turbulence. It was also determined that Lockheed’s initial vibration tests on the aircraft were not performed properly, and all Super Electras were grounded until a fix was made.

January 17: William H Pickering, astronomer (predicted Pluto), died at age 79.

February 15: Six US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortresses begin a goodwill tour of Latin America, traveling 12,000 miles to Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago and back.

March 9: A new parachute descent record of 35,450ft. is achieved by the French parachutist James Williams when he jumps from the cockpit of an ANF Les Mureaux 113 high-wing monoplane after taking off from the airfield at Chartres. Dropping to a height above the ground of 650 ft. in 2 minutes 50 seconds before opening his parachute, Williams easily achieves a world free-fall record.

March 15: De Havilland D. H. 88 Comet racer G-ACSS begins a record-breaking flight from England to New Zealand and back for what some regard as the most notable success of the Comet’s achievement: a return flight time of 10 days 21 hours 22 minutes.

March 18: Only seven months after its first flight, the prototype Heinkel He 115 V1 begins a series of flights breaking eight seaplane speed records by carrying loads between 1,100 lb. and 4,400 lb. over distances of 1,000 km (621 miles) and 2,000 km (1,242 miles) at an average speed of 204 mph. The He 115 is the Luftwaffe’s most successful seaplane.

March 26: Arthur Clouston and Victor Ricketts land their D. H. 88 Comet Australian Anniversary at Gravesend in Kent, England to complete a 26,500-mile flight from England to New Zealand and back in a record 10 days 21 hours.

July 10: Howard Hughes, with crewmembers Harry Connor, Tom Thurlow, Richard Stoddart and Ed Lund, begin a record-breaking round-the-world flight in a specially modified Lockheed Super Electra. They cut in half the time set by Wiley Post in 1933; their flying time is 71 hours, 11 minutes, 10 seconds.

August 22: The Civil Aeronautics Act becomes effective in the United States, coordinating all non-military aviation under the Civil Aeronautics Authority.

August 23: The American racing and record-breaking pilot Frank Hawks is killed along with his mechanic when his Gwinn Aircraft Aircar becomes entangled in telephone lines shortly after taking off from East Aurora, New York.

September 14: The Graf Zeppellin II makes its maiden flight. A number of events, including the Hindenburg disaster and a United States refusal to provide helium, prevent the most technologically advanced airship of its day from fulfilling its role as a passenger transport. 19 months later it would be scrapped.

November 19: Construction begins on a new airport serving the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Built in nearby Virginia, this airport will become Ronald Reagan National Airport.

November 28: A Lufthansa Fw 200 takes off on the airline’s first flight to Japan, flying from Berlin to Tokyo via Basra, Karachi, and Hanoi. The 14,228 km (8,841 mile) flight breaks the distance record and takes 46 hours 18 minutes.

December 8: Germany officially launches its first aircraft carrier, the 280-foot by 89-foot Graf Zeppelin.