This is a list of aviation-related events from 1918:
Events The Imperial Japanese Navy establishes its first lighter-than-air aviation unit.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 15. The naval aviation branch of the Chilean Armys air corps receives its first aircraft.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, , p. 199. The Eberhart Steel Products Company is founded in Buffalo, New York. It specializes in manufacturing airplane parts and aeronautical equipment and will begin to produce airplanes in 1920.Angelucci, 1987, p. 195. Kawasaki Heavy Industries Company Ltd. organizes an aircraft division.Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, , p. 21. Spring 1918 – Three Imperial Japanese Navy Farman-type seaplanes fly nonstop from Yokosuka to Sakai, Japan, stretching the navys aviation distance capabilities.Peattie, Mark R., Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, , p. 16. The cities are apart. The French Armys Service Aeronautique employs four Breguet 14S air ambulances for casualty evacuation along the Aisne Front. Each aircraft can accommodate two stretcher cases.David, Donald, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, , p. 185.
January Gunner-observer Captain John H. Hedley is thrown from the cockpit of his Bristol F2B Fighter without a parachute during a dogfight when his pilot, Captain Reginald "Jimmy" Makepeace, puts the plane into a steep dive. After he falls several hundred feet, Hedley and the aircraft come back together and he manages to grab the fighters after fuselage and crawl back into his cockpit unharmed.Wilkinson, Stephan, "Amazing But True Stories," Aviation History, May 2014, p. 33. The British Army convenes an inquiry to look into the failure of the British offensive in the Battle of Cambrai in November–December 1917. The inquiry finds that the German use of massed aircraft for close air support of German ground troops subjected British ground troops to so much machine-gun fire that they felt helpless and became demoralized, allowing a successful German counterattack.Blumberg, Arnold, "The First Ground-Pounders," Aviation History, November 2014, p. 42. January 3 – With its owner, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, concerned about declining support for the war effort by the British public and believing that news about the successes of living British pilots by name would create popular heroes and improve public morale, the British newspaper the Daily Mail publishes an editorial strongly criticizing the British Army's policy of not disclosing the names of successful Royal Flying Corps pilots unless they are killed, a policy instituted because of a belief by the British Army's leadership that such publicity would harm the esprit de corps of their fellow aviators. Other British newspapers quickly take up the cause, prompting the British Army to begin identifying pilots by name. France and Germany had identified their pilots to the press since early in World War I.Mortimer, Gavin, "Aces Without Faces," Aviation History, March 2016, pp. 39-40. January 5 – A rapid series of explosions and quickly spreading fires at the Imperial German Navy airship base at Tondern destroys four hangars and five airships in five minutes, killing four civilian workers and 10 naval personnel and injuring 134 naval personnel.Whitehouse, Arch, The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 237-238. January 7 – After the British Army drops its policy of not disclosing the names of successful Royal Flying Corps pilots unless they are killed, the Daily Mail publishes "Our Wonderful Airmen – Their Names At Last," the first article in the British press identifying living RFC pilots by name. The article discusses the exploits of Captains Philip Fuller and James McCudden.Mortimer, Gavin, "Aces Without Faces," Aviation History, March 2016, p. 40. January 9 – In a dogfight over Moorslede, Belgium, with three Royal Flying Corps aircraft including a No. 21 Squadron R.E.8 and two No. 60 Squadron S.E.5as, Max Ritter von Müller's Albatros D.Va is set on fire and he jumps to his death. Von Müllers 36 victories make him the highest-scoring Bavarian ace of World War I.Franks, 1998, p. 63. January 12 – A decree issued by the Council of Peoples Commissars of the Republic puts all Russian aircraft manufacturing companies under state control.Hardesty, Von, Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941-1945, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982, , p. 41. January 28–29 (overnight) – The first German bombing raid against the United Kingdom of the new year is carried out by 13 Gotha Grossflugzeug and two Riesenflugzeuge bombers. Six Gothas turn back due to poor visibility, but the other bombers attack targets in England, resulting in the deaths of 67 people and injuries to 166, including 14 killed and 14 injured in stampedes when "maroons" warning rockets are fired to warn of an imminent attack. Another 11 are injured by shrapnel from British antiaircraft shells. Most of the casualties are from a single bomb that hits Odhams Press in Long Acre, London, where people are sheltering. British aircraft fly over a hundred defensive sorties, and two Sopwith Camels of the Royal Flying Corps's No. 40 Squadron shoot down a Gotha, the first victory over a heavier-than-air bomber over the United Kingdom for British night fighters. Both pilots, Second Lieutenants Charles C. Banks and George Hackwill will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.Fredette, Raymond H., The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain 1917–1918, New York: Harvest, 1976, , pp. 181-182. January 29–30 (overnight) – For the first time, German Riesenflugzeug bombers attack the United Kingdom without Gotha bombers accompanying them; the four bombers are from Riesenflugzeug Abteilung ("Giant Airplane Detachment") 501 (Rfa 501). One bomber turns back. The other three bomb England, inflicting only light damage and casualties. British aircraft fly 80 defensive sorties; five of them bring one of the German bombers under attack but succeed only in disabling one of its engines, and it returns safely to base.Cole, Christopher and Cheesman, E. F., The Air Defence of Great Britain 1914–1918, London: Putnam, 1984, , pp. 390-393.Guttman, Robert, "German Giant," Aviation History, September 2014, pp. 14, 15. Unfamiliar with the great size of the bombers, many of the British pilots underestimate their size and fire at them from too great a range. January 30 – Second Lieutenant Carl Mather is killed in an aircraft collision at Ellington Field, Texas. The future Mather Air Force Base, later Sacramento Mather Airport, at Rancho Cordova, California, will be named for him.
February February 2 – The Imperial German Army's air service, the Luftstreitkräfte, forms its second and third Jagdgeschwader (fighter wings), bringing together four Jagdstaffeln (fighter squadrons) – Jagstaffeln ("Jastas") 12, 13, 15, and 19 – to form Jagdgeschwader II, with Adolf Ritter von Tutschek as its first commanding officer, and four other Jagdstaffeln – Jasta 2 "Boelcke" and Jastas 26, 27, and 36 – to form Jagdgeschwader III, with Bruno Loerzer as its first commanding officer. February 5 – Second Lieutenant Stephen W. Thompson achieves the first aerial victory by the U.S. military. February 8 – The United States replaces the () national insignia for its military aircraft adopted in 1917 with a roundel with an outer red ring, then a blue ring, and a white center . The roundel will remain in use until the United States reverts to its former markings in August 1919.Angelucci, Enzo, with Peter Bowers, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1985, , pp. 19. February 16–17 (overnight) – Four Riesenflugzeug bombers of the German Luftstreitkräfte's Riesenflugzeug Abteilung ("Giant Airplane Detachment") 501 (Rfa 501) raid England. One of them carries a single bomb which aims at London Victoria station, but it lands away on the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.Fredette, Raymond H., The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain 1917–1918, New York: Harvest, 1976, , p. 188. February 17–18 (overnight) – A single German Riesenflugzeug bomber attacks England, hitting St Pancras station in London, killing 21 people and injuring 32.Cole, Christopher and Cheesman, E. F., The Air Defence of Great Britain 1914–1918, London: Putnam, 1984, , pp. 400-401. February 18 – The Lafayette Escadrille, the American volunteer squadron serving in the French Army, is transferred to the United States Army and redesignated the 103rd Aero Squadron. February 20 – The German high command issues a memorandum governing the employment of German ground-attack squadrons in the upcoming spring offensive on the Western Front, Operation Michael. It lays out the role of the squadrons as "flying ahead of and carrying the infantry along with them, keeping down the fire of the enemy's infantry and barrage batteries," adding that the appearance of ground-attack aircraft over the battlefield "affords visible proof to heavily engaged troops that the Higher Command is in close touch with the front, and is employing every means to support the fighting troops." It also directs the squadrons to "dislocate traffic and inflict appreciable loss on reinforcements hastening up to the battlefield."Blumberg, Arnold, "The First Ground-Pounders," Aviation History, November 2014, pp. 42-43.
March March 6 The Finnish Air Force is founded. The first successful flight of a powered unmanned heavier-than-air craft, the Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb, takes place. It is the precursor to modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). March 10 – German ace Hans-Joachim Buddecke is shot down and killed over Lens, France, in combat with Sopwith Camels of the Royal Naval Air Service's No. 3 Naval Squadron. He has 13 victories at the time of his death. March 11 – The first regular international airmail service begins, with Hansa-Brandenburg C.I aircraft linking Vienna, Lviv, Proskurov, and Kiev. March 7–8 (overnight) – Five German Riesenflugzeug giant bombers raid England. One of them drops a bomb on Warrington Crescent near London's Paddington station; Lena Ford, who in 1914 had composed the popular wartime song Keep the Home Fires Burning and her 30-year-old son Walter are killed in their house by this bomb, becoming the first United States citizens to be killed in a German bombing raid.Fredette, Raymond H., The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain 1917–1918, New York: Harvest, 1976, , pp. 192-193. March 15 South African 10-kill ace Lieutenant H. B. Redler of the Royal Flying Corps's No. 24 Squadron shoots down and kills the commanding officer of Jagdgeschwader II, Adolf Ritter von Tutschek, who is flying a green Fokker Dr.I. Tutschek's 27 victories would amount to a quarter of his parent Jagdstaffel 12's 104 victories. After an extensive conversion, re-enters service with the Royal Navy as the worlds first aircraft carrier with aircraft lifts (elevators).Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 215. March 18 – The first Norwegian airline, Det Norske Luftfartrederi, is founded.