This is a list ofaviation-related events from 1948:

• Publication ofNevil Shute's novelNo Highway set in the world of research intoaviation safety.
• TheUnited States Air Force has 20,800 aircraft, about half of them combat aircraft, down from 68,400 aircraft at the end ofWorld War II in 1945. U.S. Air Force personnel strength stands at 387,000.^[1]
• The United States' inventory ofatomic bombs reaches 50 weapons during the year. Each requires two days to assemble for use, and by mid-1948 the United States has only two bomb assembly teams.^[2]
• Faced with deep disagreement within theUnited States Armed Forces over their appropriate roles in national defense, United States Secretary of DefenseJames V. Forrestal ordersChief of Staff of the United States ArmyGeneralOmar N. Bradley,Chief of Naval OperationsLouis E. Denfield, andChief of Staff of the United States Air Force GeneralCarl A. Spaatz to meet atKey West, Florida, in March and atNewport, Rhode Island, in August to determine "who will do what with what." A proposal that the U.S. Air Force take responsibility for strategic air warfare and that theUnited States Navy "conduct...air operations necessary for the accomplishments of objectives in a naval campaign" and participate in an overall air campaign "as directed by theJoint Chiefs of Staff" fails when the Air Force insists on clear and exclusive control of the strategic role and the Navy refuses to agree.^[3]
• ThePitcairn Autogiro Company is dissolved.
• Summer – American intelligence analysts forecast that in 1957 theSoviet Union will have 15,000 combat aircraft.^[4]

• January 6 – AnAir FranceDouglas DC-3D (registration F-BAXC) strikes trees during an approach in bad weather toParis-Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France, and crashes inGonesse, killing all 16 people on board.^[5]
• January 7 – Both engines of aCoastal Air LinesDouglas C-47A Skytrain (registration NC60331) shut down during a flight fromRaleigh-Durham Airport inNorth Carolina to Miami, Florida. While the crew attempts to glide the aircraft to an emergency landing in amarsh, the aircraftstalls, crashes north-northeast ofSavannah, Georgia, and breaks in two, killing 18 of the 27 people on board.^[6]
• January 11 – After aDominicana de Aviación Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registration HI-6) carrying the B.B.C. Santiago baseball team home on a domestic flight in the Dominican Republic fromBarahona toSantiago de los Caballeros encounters bad weather, its crew makes a navigational error while attempting to divert toCiudad Trujillo. The aircraft crashes into a mountain nearYamasá, killing all 32 people on board.^[6]
• January 17 –BOAC begins to replace itsBoeing 314flying boats with theLockheed Constellation on theBaltimore, Maryland-to-Bermuda route.
• January 20 – AChina National Aviation Corporation (CNAC)Curtiss C-46 Commando evacuating people fromMukden, China, crashes while taking off fromMukden Airport in asnowstorm, killing 11 of the 54 people on board.^[7]
• January 28 – AnAirline Transport CarriersDouglas C-47B Skytrain under contract to the U.S.Immigration and Naturalization Servicecrashes in theDiablo Mountains west ofCoalinga, California, killing all 32 people on board. Among the dead are 28 Mexicanmigrant farm workers being deported to Mexico, leading singer-songwriterWoody Guthrie to write the protest song "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)."
  Further information:1948 Los Gatos DC-3 crash
• January 30
  • British South American AirwaysAvro Tudor IVStar Tiger(G-AHNP) en route fromSanta Maria in theAzores to Bermuda disappears without trace with the loss of all 31 people on board. At last contact, the plane was estimated to be just under two hours away from Bermuda. Among those lost aboard the plane is retiredRoyal Air ForceAir MarshalArthur Coningham.
  • Orville Wright, co-inventor of the world's first practicalfixed-wing aircraft, dies inDayton, Ohio at the age of 76.

• Aerocar International begins design and development of a flying automobile designed byMoulton Taylor.^[8]
• Closed from 1941 to 1945 because of theGerman invasion of theSoviet Union duringWorld War II and reopened in 1945 only to cargo and mail flights,Leningrad′s Shosseynaya Airport (the futurePulkovo Airport) finally reopens to scheduled passenger service.
• February 16 – A U.S.Joint Intelligence Committee study forecasts that by 1957 the Soviet Union will have theatomic bomb and a long-range strategic air force and will be able to inflict substantial damage on the United States with the use of atomic,chemical, andbiological weapons.^[9]
• February 18 – The Spanish airlineAviaco is formed as an air freight company operating sixBristol 170s.

• TheIsraeli Air Force is formed along with the new state of Israel.
• The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee forecasts that the Soviet Union will test its first atomic bomb sometime between 1950 and 1953 and by 1953 will have from 20 to 50 atomic bombs, depending on when it tests its first one.^[10]
• March 2 – ASabenaDouglas DC-3 (registration OO-AWH), crashes on approach toLondon Heathrow Airport in low visibility conditions, killing all 19 people on board.^[11]
• March 10 –Fighter Squadron 5 (VF-5) becomes the firstUnited States Navyaircraft carriersquadron to be equipped withjet aircraft.
• March 12 –Northwest Airlines Flight 4422, a charteredDouglas C-54G-1-DO, crashes intoMount Sanford in theTerritory of Alaska, killing all 30 people on board.
• March 19 – TheBritish Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) extends its Hong Kong service to Japan.
• March 23 –Group CaptainJohn Cunningham sets a new world altitude record of 59,446 ft (18,119 m) in ade Havilland Vampire.
• March 24 – ABoulton Paul P.108 Balliol becomes the first aircraft to fly with a singleturboprop engine (anArmstrong Siddeley Mamba).^[12]
• March 28 –United States Air ForceB-29 Superfortresses undergoaerial refueling tests, demonstrating the viability of this technique to extend the range of strategic bombers.

• Two specially modifiedGloster Meteors begin carrier trials aboardHMS Implacable.
• Pacific Ocean Airlines discontinues operations.^[13]
• TheInternational Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations is formed during a conference in London.
• April 3 –Alitalia launches its first postwar service from Italy (Rome-Ciampino) to the United Kingdom (London'sNortholt Aerodrome).
• April 5 – ASoviet Air ForceYakovlev Yak-3 fighter harassing aircraft flying intoWest Berlin during theBerlin Blockade collides with aBritish European AirwaysVickers VC.1B Viking airliner as it is levelling off to land atRAF Gatow in West Berlin. Both aircraft crash, killing the fighter pilot and all 14 people aboard the airliner and leading to a diplomatic standoff between theSoviet Union and the United Kingdom and United States.
• April 6 – Seventeenhijackers commandeer aCSA Czech Airlines airliner carrying a total of 26 people during a domestic flight inCzechoslovakia fromPrague toBratislava. They force it to take them toNeubiberg Air Base in the American Occupation Zone inAllied-occupied Germany. No one is injured in the incident.^[14]
• April 15 – ThePan American World AirwaysLockheed L-1049C-55-81 Super ConstellationClipper Empress of the Skies, operating asFlight 1–10, crashes short of the runway atShannon Airport inShannon, Ireland, killing 30 of the 31 people on board and leaving the lone survivor injured.
• April 17 – The U.S.Joint Chiefs of Staff inform theU.S. Atomic Energy Commission that the United States must establish a stockpile of atomic weapons if theUnited States Armed Forces are to sustain an immediate air offensive against the Soviet Union in the event of war.^[10]
• April 18 – Theflag carrier of Cyprus,Cyprus Airways, begins flight operations, using threeDouglas DC-3 airliners flown by British pilots fromBritish European Airways (BEA) to offer service fromNicosia toAthens,Beirut,Cairo,Haifa,Istanbul, London, andRome.
• April 21
  • TheVickers 610 Viking 1BG-AIVE, operating asBritish European Airways Flight S200P, crashes intoIrish Law Mountain inNorth Ayrshire, Scotland. Although the left engine andwing break off and the rest of the aircraft breaks into three pieces and bursts into flames, there are no fatalities; 13 of the 20 people aboard suffer injuries.
  • Pennsylvania Central Airlines is renamedCapital Airlines.
• April 26
  • During a dive, aNorth American YP-86 flown byGeorge Welch becomes the first American fighter aircraft to exceedMach 1.^[15]
  • During a long-range test flight that covers 3,528 miles (5,678 km) in 9½ hours over a round-robin course over California andArizona at a true airspeed of 388 mph (624 km/h), the U.S. Air Force's firstNorthrop YB-49 jet-poweredflying wing bomber prototype sets an endurance record for sustained flight above 40,000 feet (12,000 meters), remaining above that altitude for 6½ hours.^[16]
• April 28 – The U.S. Navy launches two P2V-3C Neptune aircraft – a version of theP2V configured for carrier launch carrying anuclear weapon – from theaircraft carrierUSS Coral Sea (CVB-43) off the coast ofVirginia. The first carrier launches of any type of P2V, they establish the U.S. Navy's first, interim carrier-based nuclear strike capability pending the acquisition of aircraft designed from the outset to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon from a carrier.^[17]
• April 28–29 –Leonardo Bonzi andManer Lualdi set a light plane distance record of 4,170 km (2,590 mi) flying fromCampoformido (Italy) toMassawa (Eritrea) in anAmbrosini S.1001.

• May 4 – Twohijackers commandeer aCSA Czech Airlines airliner during a domestic flight inCzechoslovakia fromBrno toČeské Budějovice and force the pilot to fly them toErding Air Base in the American occupation zone inAllied-occupied Germany.^[18]
• May 13 –Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, andKathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, the sister of future U.S. PresidentJohn F Kennedy, are among the dead when ade Havilland Dove 1 (registration G-AJOU) crashes in violent weather inSaint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France, killing all four people on board.
• May 15 – TheRoyal Egyptian Air Force attacksTel Aviv. TheIsraeli Air Force retaliates by striking Arab troops nearSamakh.
• May 22 – Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF)Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs conduct three attacks against theRoyal Air Force's (RAF's)Ramat David Airbase nearHaifa in the newly declaredState of Israel. Their first attack destroys two British Spitfires on the ground and damages eight others, and in their second attack they shoot down aDouglas Dakota while it is landing, killing four men on board. Their third attack is ineffective and loses one Spitfire to ground fire and four others to Spitfires of the RAF'sNo. 208 Squadron flyingcombat air patrol over the base. The REAF later claims that its pilots mistook the airbase for theIsraeli Air Force base atMegiddo Airport, although the Israelis did not yet operate Spitfires.^[19]
• May 28
  • TheIsraeli Air Force is established.
  • TheRoyal Netherlands Navycommissions its firstfleet aircraft carrier,HNLMSKarel Doorman (R81), which formerly had served in the BritishRoyal Navy asHMS Venerable. She replaces the first Dutch carrier, theescort carrierHNLMSKarel Doorman (QH1).
• May 29 – FormerUnited States Marine Corps pilot Lou Lenart, flying one of the fourAvia S-199s that make up the Israeli Air Force's only fightersquadron, leads an air attack against anEgyptian Army ground column threateningTel Aviv, forcing it to turn back short of the city. He is hailed as "The Man Who Saved Tel Aviv."^[20]

• TheUnited States Air Force changes its designation for itsfighter aircraft from P (for "pursuit") to F (for "fighter") and its designation for itsground-attack aircraft from A (for "attack") to B (for "bomber").^[21]
• June 1
  • British European Airways (BEA) commences the first helicopter air mail service in the United Kingdom.
  • The U.S. Navy'sNaval Air Transport Service and the U.S. Air ForceAir Transport Command'sAir Transport Service merge to form theMilitary Air Transport Service (MATS) under the direction of the U.S. Air Force. The merger places some U.S. Navy and all U.S. Air Force strategic airlift resources under MATS.^[22][23]
• June 4
  • Philippine Airlines begins the first transpacific sleeper service, usingDouglas DC-6 airliners between San Francisco, California, andManila in thePhilippine Islands.^[13]
  • A passenger and a crew member aboard aJugoslovenske Sovjet Transport Aviacija (JUSTA)Douglas C-47 Skytrain draw guns during a domestic flight in theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia fromBeograd toSarajevo and force the pilot to fly toBari, Italy.^[24]
• June 5 – The U.S. Air Force's secondNorthrop YB-49 jet-poweredflying wing bomber prototype crashes during a performance test flight on the test range in California'sAntelope Valley, killing all five men on board. The airframe has 57 hours of flight time on it at the time of the crash.^[16]
• June 8 –Air India commences a regularBombay-London service usingLockheed Constellations.
• June 17
  • ATransporturi Aeriene Româno-Sovietice (TARS) Douglas C-47 Skytrain ishijacked during a domestic flight over Romania and forced to fly toSalzburg Airport in Salzburg, Austria.^[25]
  • TheDouglas DC-6Mainliner Utah (NC37506), operating asUnited Airlines Flight 624, crashes nearAristes, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board. American theatrical producer, director, songwriter, and composerEarl Carroll and American singer, dancer, and actressBeryl Wallace are among the dead.^[26]
• June 26 – TheBerlin Airlift begins, with U.S. Air Force,Royal Air Force, and British civil transport aircraft carrying supplies intoWest Berlin.
• June 28 –Royal Air ForceSquadron LeaderBasil Arkel sets a new helicopter speed record of 124 mph (200 km/h) in aFairey Gyrodyne.
• June 30 – Anti-Communists hijack aTABSOJunkers Ju 52 over Bulgaria during a domestic flight fromVarna toSofia. The pilot is killed during a struggle with them, and they force the airliner to fly toIstanbul, Turkey.^[27]

• The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff request that the United States establish an inventory of 150 atomic bombs for use against 100 urban targets in the event of war with the Soviet Union.^[10]
• July 1 – With the transfer of its assets to the newMilitary Air Transportation Service completed, the U.S. Navy'sNaval Air Transport Service is disestablished.^[23]
• July 4 – AScandinavian AirlinesDouglas DC-6 and anAvro York C.1 ofNo. 99 Squadron,Royal Air Force,collide overNorthwood in London in the United Kingdom. Both aircraft crash, killing all seven people aboard the York and all 32 people on board the DC-6. Among the dead isHigh Commissioner for theFederation of MalayaSir Edward Gent, who had been a passenger aboard the York.
• July 6 – The U.S. Navy forms its first two carrier-basedairborne early warningsquadrons,Airborne Early Warning Squadron 1 (VAW-1) andAirborne Early Warning Squadron 2 (VAW-2).
• July 13 – ABristol Type 170 Freighter makes the first flight ofSilver City Airways' air car-ferry service betweenLympne, England, andLe Touquet, France.^[28]
• July 14 –De Havilland Vampire F3s of theRoyal Air Force'sNo. 54 Squadron become the firstjet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The six aircraft, commanded byWing Commander D. S. Wilson-MacDonald,DSO,DFC, go viaStornoway, Iceland, andLabrador toMontreal on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the United States, where they give several formationaerobatic displays.
• July 16 – ThePBY Catalinaflying boatMiss Macao (VR-HDT), operated by aCathay Pacific subsidiary, flying fromMacau to Hong Kong with 23 passengers and three crew on board, ishijacked midway over China'sPearl River Delta by a group of four hijackers attempting to rob the passengers. The hijackers attack the pilot, who loses control of the aircraft during the ensuing struggle in thecockpit. The subsequent crash kills all on board except one passenger, later identified as the lead hijacker. It is the first known airliner hijacking outside theEastern Bloc.^[29]
• July 21 – A U.S. Air ForceBoeing F-13 Superfortress photographic reconnaissance aircraft on a low-level atmospheric research flightaccidentallyditches inNevada'sLake Mead and sinks. The entire crew of five escapes safely inlife rafts.

• August 28 – The U.S. NavyMartin JRM-2 Marsflying boatCaroline Mars arrives in Chicago, Illinois, after a record-breaking nonstop flight of 4,748 miles (7,641 km) fromHonolulu,Hawaii, in 24 hours 12 minutes with 42 people and a payload of 42,000 pounds (19,000 kg) on board.^[23]
• August 29 –Northwest Airlines Flight 421, aMartin 2-0-2, loses part of its left wing in athunderstorm and crashes betweenFountain City, Wisconsin, andWinona, Minnesota, killing all 37 people on board.

• September 2 – TheAustralian National AirwaysDouglas DC-3Lutana crashes into theNorth West Slopes of Australia'sGreat Dividing Range nearNundle, New South Wales, killing all 13 people on board.
• September 5 – On a 390-mile (628-km) flight fromNaval Air Station Patuxent River,Maryland, toCleveland, Ohio, the U.S. NavyMartin JRM-2 Marsflying boatCaroline Mars sets a new cargo record of 62,262 pounds (28,242 kg), the heaviest payload any aircraft had ever carried.^[23]
• September 6 – Ade Havilland DH.108 breaks the sound barrier, the first British aircraft to do so.
• September 11 & 12 – The firstFarnborough International Airshow is held
• September 12 – Eighthijackers commandeer aTechnical and Aeronautical Holdings (TAE)Douglas C-47B-15-DK Skytrain (registration SX-BAH) with 21 people aboard during a domestic flight over Greece fromAthens toThessaloniki and force it to fly them toTetovo in theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The hijackers deplane at Tetovo, and the airliner resumes its journey to Thessaloniki. The 1987 Greek movieKloios will be based in this incident.^[30]
• September 15
  • TheGovernment of Burma establishes Union of Burma Airways. It eventually will becomeMyanmar National Airlines.
  • Flying anF-86A Sabre fighter, U.S. Air Force MajorRichard L. Johnson sets aworld speed record of 670.981 mph (1,079.839 km/h).^[31]
• September 16 – PresidentHarry S. Truman endorses National Council Report 30 (NSC-30), reserving to the President of the United States the power to order the use ofatomic bombs by theUnited States Armed Forces.^[32]
• September 18
  • ARoyal Air Forcede Havilland Mosquito crashes during anair show atRAF Manston on theIsle of Thanet in northeasternKent, England, killing both of its crewmen and 10 spectators on the ground.^[33][34]
  • TheConvair XF-92A, the world's firstdelta-wing airplane, makes its first flight. The flight takes place atMuroc Dry Lake, California.
  • Eugene Joseff, who asJoseff of Hollywood and Joseff: Jeweler of the Stars supplied 90 percent of the jewelry used in Hollywood films and who also was founder and president of Joseff Precision Metal Products, a maker of aircraft and missile parts, dies when the plane he is piloting crashes in fog two miles (3.2 km) north ofNewhall, California, five minutes after takeoff fromNewhall Airport. The three men with him aboard the plane as passengers also die.^[35][36]
• September 25 – Flying in rain and fog, Americanprofessional wrestlerJoe Lynam dies when his U.S. Navy surplusNorth American SNJ-4 Texan trainer crashes intoHorse Ridge 500 feet (150 meters) below its summit just after takeoff fromBend, Oregon.^[26]
• September 28–29 (overnight) – An IsraeliDouglas C-54 Skymastermilitary transport aircraft converted for civilian use to carryPresident of IsraelChaim Weizmann fromGeneva, Switzerland, to Israel makes the flight with extra fuel tanks installed to allow a nonstop trip and painted with the logo of the "El Al/Israel National Aviation Company." The flight begins the history of Israel's national airline,El Al, which will be incorporated inNovember.

• October 1 –Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates luxury all-sleeper service between New York City and Paris. The Paris-bound service is marketed as "Paris Sky Chief," the New York-bound service as "New York Sky Chief."^[37]
• October 2 –Bukken Bruse disaster: The pilots of theDet Norske Luftfartsselskapflying boatBukken Bruse, aShort Sandringham with 43 people on board, lose control of the aircraft while attempting to land atHommelvik inMalvik Municipality, Norway; the aircraft crashes and rapidly fills with water. Nineteen people die; the British philosopherBertrand Russell is among the survivors and is hospitalized.
• October 6 –1948 Waycross B-29 crash: A U.S. Air ForceB-29-100-BW Superfortress bomber on a flight to test the secret Sunseekerinfrared homing device later used on theAIM-9 Sidewinderair-to-air missile crashes inWaycross, Georgia, shortly after takeoff fromRobins Air Force Base, killing nine of the 13 men on board. The four survivorsparachute to safety.
• October 10 – For the second time, a modifiedde Havilland Mosquito launches an expendable, unmanned, rocket-powered 30-percent-scale model of the cancelled BritishMiles M.52 supersonic research aircraft at high altitude. The first launch, inOctober 1947, had failed, but this time the model reachesMach 1.38 in stable, level flight. Work on the project is discontinued after the flight.
• October 20 –1948 KLM Constellation air disaster:KLMLockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation PH-TENNijmegen crashes at about 23:32UTC^[38] into power cables on high ground on approach toGlasgow Prestwick Airport, inPrestwick, Scotland, killing all 40 people on board, most on impact. Deteriorating visibility and inadequate charts are cited as causes. Among the KLM staff killed are the pilot, Koene Dirk Parmentier (a winner of theMacRobertson Air Race); the cofounder, Edgar Fuld; and the technical director, Hendrik Veenendaal.
• October 21 –United States Naval ReserveNaval CadetJesse L. Brown receives hisNaval Aviator Badge, becoming the first African-Americannaval aviator.^[39][40][41]

• November 15 –El Al is incorporated and becomes Israel's national airline.
• November 20 – AnIsraeli Air ForceF-51 Mustang of101 Squadron flown by a formerUnited States Army Air Forces pilot shoots down aRoyal Air ForceMosquito PR.34photographic reconnaissance aircraft on a mission to photograph Israeli airfields, killing the Mosquito's two-man crew. The Israeli acquisition of Mustangs surprises the British and prompts them to suspend Mosquito reconnaissance flights overPalestine.^[42]
• November 30 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that as of August 1, 1948, the Soviet Air Force has 500,000 men and 15,000 aircraft and could deploy an additional 5,000 combat aircraft by six months after the beginning of a war. It forecasts that the Soviet Union will have a growing number of atomic bombs after 1950 with 20 to 50 available by 1956 or 1957, and that by 1957 the Soviet Air Force will be capable of attacking thecontinental United States and Canada.^[4]

• Mordechai Hod smuggles aSupermarine Spitfire into Israel by flying it all the way fromCzechoslovakia.^[43]
• December 1 – TheUnited States Air Force creates theContinental Air Command and subordinates theAir Defense Command and theTactical Air Command to it.^[44]
• December 16 – TheRoyal Australian Navycommissions its first aircraft carrier,HMAS Sydney (R17).
• December 17 – The originalWright Flyer goes on display at theSmithsonian Institution.
• December 24
  • Aeroput, Yugoslavia's first civilian airline and theflag carrier of theKingdom of Yugoslavia from 1927 to April 1941, when theGerman invasion of Yugoslavia knocked it out of business and destroyed most of its property, is liquidated after theCommunist government of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bans privatejoint-stock companies like Aeroput. Aeroput had never resumed operations, andJAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport had replaced it as the national flag carrier inApril 1947.
  • As a public relations move, the U.S. Air Force issues a communique claiming that an "early warning radar net to the north" had detected "one unidentifiedsleigh, powered by eightreindeer, at 14,000 feet [4,300 meters], heading 180 degrees." The "report" is passed along to the public by theAssociated Press. It is the first time that the U.S. armed forces have issued a statement about trackingSanta Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve; doing so will become anannual holiday tradition beginning in1955.^[45]
• December 28 – TheDouglas DC-3NC16002 disappears on a flight fromSan Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida, with the loss of all 32 people on board.

• Hiller UH-12

• January 8 – Lavochkin La-174, prototype of theLa-15
• January 21 -Jodel D.9 Bébé^[46]

• February 4 –Douglas Skyrocket
• February 22 –LWD Junak
• February 27 –SNCASO SO.7010 Pégase^[47]

• March 5 –Curtiss XP-87 Blackhawk, the lastCurtiss-designed aircraft^[48]
• March 9 –Gloster E.1/44
• March 22 – Lockheed TF-80C, prototype of theLockheed T-33 Shooting Star^[49]
• March 23 – Douglas XF3D-1, prototype of theDouglas F3D Skyknight^[50]

• May 7 –Tupolev Tu-78
• May 13 –Percival Prince^[51]

• June 1 –Cessna 170
• June 9 –SNCASE SE-1210^[52]
• June 12 –Avro Athena^[12]
• June 12 –Lazarov Laz-7^[53]
• June 15 –SNCASE SE-3101^[54]
• June 23 –Arsenal VG 70^[55]
• June 30 –Nord 1221 Norélan^[56]

• July 3 –Douglas XAJ-1^[57]
• July 8 –Ilyushin Il-28
• July 16 –Vickers Viscount^[58]
• July 20 –SNCAC NC.211 Cormoran^[59]
• July 22 –Castel-Mauboussin CM.7^[59]

• August 16 – Northrop XF-89, prototype of theF-89 Scorpion
• August 23 –XF-85 Goblin^[60]
• August 25 –Hurel-Dubois HD.10^[61]
• August 29 –Piaggio P.136

• September 1 –Saab J-29, Sweden's second jet^[62]
• September 3 -CSS-10^[63]
• September 18 –Convair XF-92, the world's firstdelta-winged airplane^[64]
• September 29 – Vought XF7U-1, prototype of theF7U Cutlass,^[65] the first American tailless production fighter^[66]
• September 30 –OKB-1 140 (or Junkers EF 140)

• October 5 –Westland WS-51 Dragonfly
• October 10 – Cierva W.14 Skeeter, prototype of theSaunders-Roe Skeeter
• October 12 –SNCAC NC.1071^[67]
• October 20 –McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo^[68]
• October 23 –Sud-Est SE.3000^[69]
• October 26 –Gloster Meteor T7

• November 12 –Sud-Ouest SE.6020 Espadon^[70]
• November 24 –SNCASE SE-1010^[71]

• December 2 – Beechcraft Model 45, prototype of theBeechcraft T-34 Mentor^[72]
• December 5 –Ilyushin Il-20
• December 7 –Cierva W.11 Air HorseG-ALCV
• December 16 –X-4 Bantam
• December 29 –Supermarine Type 510

• Hiller OH-23 Raven with theUnited States Army
• North American P-82 Twin Mustang, lastUnited States Army Air Forces piston-engined fighter to enter service, with the27th Fighter Group^[73]

• March 10 –North American FJ-1 Fury – theUnited States Navy′s first operational jet aircraft – withFighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) aboardUSS Boxer (CV-21)

• April 22 –North American B-45 Tornado with theUnited States Air Force

• May 5 –McDonnell FH Phantom with U.S. NavyFighter Squadron 17 (VF-17) aboardUSS Saipan (CVL-48)

• June 1 –Convair CV-240 Convairliner withAmerican Airlines^[74]
• June 2 –Convair B-36 Peacemaker with theUnited States Air Force's7th Bombardment Wing (Heavy)

• Handley Page Hastings with theRoyal Air Force

• North American B-45 Tornado with the U.S. Air Force's47th Bombardment Wing

• Curtiss Hawk 75A by theFinnish Air Force^[75]

• September 14 –Brewster F2A Buffalo by the Finnish Air Force^[76]

• August 8 –Svetlana Savitskaya, cosmonaut

• January 30 – Air MarshalArthur Coningham, Royal Air Force lost in the disappearance ofStar Tiger.
• March 7 – Air Vice MarshalOliver Swann, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force.
• June 1 – Air MarshalJohn Frederick Andrews Higgins, Royal Air Force.

• Andersson, Hans G. (1989).Saab Aircraft since 1937. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN 0-87474-314-1.
• Angelucci, Enzo (1987).The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present. New York: Orion Book.ISBN 0-517-56588-9.
• Bridgman, Leonard (1951).Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company.
• Carbonel, Jean-Christophe (October 2022). "Database: Hurel-Dubois Aircraft".Aeroplane. Vol. 50, no. 10. pp. 83–99.ISSN 0143-7240.
• Donald, David, ed. (1997).The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books.ISBN 0-7607-0592-5.
• Ginter, Steve (1992).North American AJ-1 Savage Naval Fighters Number 22. Simi Valley, California: Steve Ginter.ISBN 0-942612-22-1.
• Isenberg, Michael T. (1993).Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace. Vol. I: 1945-1962. New York: St. Martin's Press.ISBN 0-312-09911-8.
• Mondey, David, ed. (1978).The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft. Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books.ISBN 0-89009-771-2.
• de Narbonne, Roland (January 2008). "Janvier 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Un très beau bébé, le Jodel D.9".Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 458. pp. 76–77.
• de Narbonne, Roland (June 2008). "Juin 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Enfin des matériels nouveaux".Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 463. pp. 76–79.
• de Narbonne, Roland (July 2008). "Juillet 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Trop vite, trop tôt, le NC 211 "Cormoran"".Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 464. pp. 76–79.
• de Narbonne, Roland (October 2008). "Octobre 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: NC 1071, SE 3000, encore deux prototypes sans suite...".Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 467. pp. 76–79.
• de Narbonne, Roland (November 2008). "Novembre 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: SO 6020 "Espadon", SE 1010, deux avions prometteurs aux des tins brisés...".Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 468. pp. 76–79.
• Němeček, Václav (1971). "Monografie: CSS-10".Letectví a Kosmonautica (in Czech). Vol. XLVII, no. 6. pp. 233–234.
• Némeček, Václav (1989). "Monografie: Lazerov Laz-7: Část I".Letectví a Komonautika (in Czech). Vol. LXV, no. 12. pp. 470–472.ISSN 0024-1156.
• "Paris Salon 1946 – The Outcome".Archive. No. 3.Air-Britain. 1993. pp. 77–80.
• Ross, Steven T. (1996).American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union. Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass.ISBN 0-7146-4192-8.

• 1948 in aviation
• Aviation by year

• CS1: unfit URL
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2022
• CS1: long volume value
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• CS1 Czech-language sources (cs)