Today in Aviation History - January

ausrere

ausrere

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January 1

In 1914... The U.S. Weather Bureau begins daily publication of a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere designed specifically as an aid to aviation.

In 1914... The world’s first scheduled airplane passenger service operated by an airline company – the Airboat Line – begins at 10:00 A.M. when Anthony Janus flies his first passenger from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The fare for 22-mile over-water flight was $5 with a surcharge if the passenger weighs more than 200 lbs.

In 1934... The airline Deutsche Luft Hansa changes its name to Lufthansa.

In 1946... The first civil flight from Heathrow Airport occurs.

In 1978... Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.

In 2003... Joe Foss, American politician and fighter pilot, dies (b. 1915). Joseph Jacob "Joe" Foss was a leading "ace" fighter pilot in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, a 1943 recipient of the Medal of Honor, a general in the Air National Guard, and the 20th Governor of South Dakota.

In 2007... Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board. The plane, a Boeing 737-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from which some smaller pieces of wreckage have been recovered.
 
January 2

In 1918... The British government establishes an air ministry. Lord Rothermere is Secretary of State for Air. Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard is Chief of the Air Staff.

In 1942... The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

In 1943... McDonnell gets a contract to build the Navy's first jet fighter.

In 1953... The first of an order of about 430 US Sabre fighters, the RAF’s first supersonic jet, arrives at RAF Abington, England.

In 1989... Tupolev’s TU-204, the Soviet Union’s first airliner fitted with a fly-by-wire control system, makes its maiden flight.
 
ausrere said:
January 1

In 1914... The U.S. Weather Bureau begins daily publication of a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere designed specifically as an aid to aviation.

In 1914... The world’s first scheduled airplane passenger service operated by an airline company – the Airboat Line – begins at 10:00 A.M. when Anthony Janus flies his first passenger from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The fare for 22-mile over-water flight was $5 with a surcharge if the passenger weighs more than 200 lbs.

In 1934... The airline Deutsche Luft Hansa changes its name to Lufthansa.

In 1946... The first civil flight from Heathrow Airport occurs.

In 1978... Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.

In 2003... Joe Foss, American politician and fighter pilot, dies (b. 1915). Joseph Jacob "Joe" Foss was a leading "ace" fighter pilot in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, a 1943 recipient of the Medal of Honor, a general in the Air National Guard, and the 20th Governor of South Dakota.

In 2007... Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board. The plane, a Boeing 737-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from which some smaller pieces of wreckage have been recovered.
Click to expand...

I'm a day late with this one but......

January 1, 1944 - Lieutenant Colonel Donald J.M. Blakeslee took command of the 4th Fighter Group after Chesley Peterson left to serve as Combat Operations Officer with the 9th Air Force Headquarters.

January 1, 1945 - During yet another escort mission, the 336th engaged a gaggle of enemy fighters downing four Me-109s. Donald Pierini got one of the 109s then later got a Me-262.
 
ausrere said:
January 1

In 1914... The U.S. Weather Bureau begins daily publication of a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere designed specifically as an aid to aviation.
Click to expand...

January 2

In 1914... The US Weather Bureau publishes their second daily weather map, which looks nothing like the first one whatsoever.

In 1914... The first pilot misinterpretation of the weather map leads to pilots swearing off weather forecasts, leading to invention of the METAR and the AWOS.

In 1914... Lockheed begins formulating a strategy to take over the publication of weather maps.

:D
 
ausrere said:
January 2


In 1942... The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Click to expand...

Just curious- what was there before 1942? I thought they were landing airships there at least in 1937.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Just curious- what was there before 1942? I thought they were landing airships there at least in 1937.
Click to expand...

Lakehurst opened as a ammo proving ground in 1917. Was commissioned as a Naval Air Station in 1921 and was the site for testing Lighter than Air craft (LTAs) from the 1920's to the 1960's. The first operational rigid airships were housed there as early as 1931. It became and official blimp base in 1942 when Congress authorized the construction of 200 airships after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Hindenburg crashed there in 1937.
 
January 3

In 1496... Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.

In 1905... In efforts to interest the U.S. government in the use of airplanes for the military, Wilbur Wright speaks to Congressman Robert M. Nevin, who asks him to prepare a letter for submission to the secretary of war that Nevin would deliver and endorse. The army declines the offer.

In 1923... French Lieutenant Thoret makes the first soaring flight of more than 5 hours in a Hanriot HD-14 biplane as he flies with his engine stopped in a slope lift (using hill-side air currents) in Biskra, France.

In 1944... Top Ace Major Greg "pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.

In 1981... Pan Am retires the Boeing 707 from its fleet.

In 2004... Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people aboard.

In 2007... National Express has its worst ever coach crash just outside Heathrow Airport when it was travelling to Glasgow.
 
January 4

In 1944... North American's Mustangs score 18 victories. In 1944 there were 17 P-51 fighter groups in England. Of these, the 357th Fighter Group had 609 aerial victories.

In 1952... Pan American World Airways inaugurates the first all-cargo service across the North Atlantic with its recently acquired Douglas DC-6A cargo carrier.

In 1964... Pope Paul VI lands in Amman, Jordan, in a special Alitalia DC-8; it is the first time that a pope has used an airplane for an official visit.

In 1989... Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.

In 1996... The Boeing RAH-66 Comanche makes first flight.
 
January 5

In 1959... The Fairey Rotodyne, piloted by W. P. Gellatly and J. P. Morton, sets a world speed record for convertiplanes of 190.9 mph over a 62-mile circuit.

In 2006... Independence Air ceases operations.
 
ausrere said:
In 1959... The Fairey Rotodyne, piloted by W. P. Gellatly and J. P. Morton, sets a world speed record for convertiplanes of 190.9 mph over a 62-mile circuit.
Click to expand...

What the heck is a convertiplane? :dunno:

Edit: Ahh, you can always count on Google and Wikipedia. It appears to be another name for a tilt-rotor type of contraption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convertiplane

Edit again: Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Rotodyne, and a YouTube video of it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Rotodyne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9633v6U0wo
 
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January 6

In 1928... Pilot Lt. C. F. Schilt, USMC, lands a Vought O2U-1 Corsair in the street of a Nicaraguan village to rescue wounded officers. Eighteen servicemen are rescued and, for his bravery, Lt. Schilt iss awarded the Medal of Honor.

In 1942... Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.

In 1944... The McDonnell XP-67 twin-engine bomber destroyer (nicknamed the "Bat") makes its first flight.

In 1984... Hughes Helicopters merges with McDonnell Douglas Corp.

In 2006... Hugh Thompson, Jr., decorated Vietnam War helicopter pilot, dies (b. 1943). He is chiefly known for his role in curtailing the My Lai massacre, during which he was flying a reconnaissance mission.
 
January 7

In 1785... The English Channel is crossed for the first time by air as Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries fly their hydrogen balloon from Dover, England to a forest near Calais, France.

In 1920... The Boeing BB-1 seaplane, another new commercial aircraft, makes its first flight. It is bought by a Canadian and becomes the company's second international sale.

In 1973... Cameron Balloons Ltd. of Bristol, England, flies for the first time the world’s only hot-air airship (G-BAMK) from Wantage, Berkshire.

In 1980... In San Francisco, a single-engined Mooney 231 sets a nonstop coast-to coast record in 8 hours 4 minutes using only 105 gallons of fuel.

In 1981... A Boeing 747 of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China’s state airline, arrives at JFK Airport, N.Y., from Beijing via Shanghai and San Francisco; this is the first scheduled flight between these two countries since 1949 and inaugurates a weekly CAAC service.

In 1983... First McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters go into operational service.

In 2004... Boeing launches the 747-400 Special Freighter program with an agreement with Cathay Pacific Airways to convert at least six 747-400 passenger airplanes into freighters.
 
January 8

In 1943... Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author, dies (b. 1919). Flight Lieutenant Richard H. Hillary was a Battle of Britain pilot who died during World War II. He is best known for his book The Last Enemy, based upon his experiences during the Battle of Britain.

In 1945... The Mitsubishi J8M1 rocket-fighter makes its first flight in Hyakurigahara, Japan.

In 1982... The Airbus A300 becomes the world’s first wide-bodied airliner to be certified for operation by a flight crew of two.

In 1989... The Kegworth air disaster kills 47 people in Leicestershire, England.

In 1996... An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.

In 1998... Boeing changes the name of the MD-95 jetliner to the 717-200.
 
January 9

In 1793... Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard in Philadelphia makes the first manned free balloon ascent in America in a hydrogen balloon.

In 1923... The first flight of a practical gyroplane or rotocraft is made by Juan de la Cierva’s C-3 Autogiro, which is flown by Spenser Gomes in Madrid, Spain.

In 1941... First flight of the Avro Lancaster.

In 1945... A C-97 Stratofreighter (Model 367) sets a transcontinental record by flying 2,323 miles from Seattle to Washington, D.C., in 6 hours and 4 minutes, at an average speed of 383 miles per hour.

In 1984... First production AH-64A Apache, now flying under the McDonnell Douglas banner, lifts off for the first time, one month ahead of schedule. It is wins the Collier Trophy and is delivered to the U.S. Army Jan. 27.

In 1997... A Comair Embraer 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29 people.

In 2007... An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes in Balad, Iraq. The Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have shot it down.
 
January 10

In 1942... The US Army announces the delivery of its first troop-transport gliders.

In 1982... The Gulfstream III Spirit of America sets a round-the-world record for an executive jet of 43 hours, 39 minutes and 6 seconds in Taterboro, New Jersey.

In 1990... The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 makes its first flight.
 
ausrere said:
January 9

In 1793... Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard in Philadelphia makes the first manned free balloon ascent in America in a hydrogen balloon.
Click to expand...

That makes...Pennsylvania first in flight!!

Sorry, North Carolina :D
 
January 11

In 1935... Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman pilot to fly solo between Hawaii and the United States. She takes off from Wheeler Field, Oahu, Honolulu, to fly her Lockheed Vega across the eastern Pacific to Oakland, California. Earhart lands after 18 hours 15 minutes.

In 1947... The McDonnell F2H Banshee makes its first flight.

In 1959... The long-range version of the Boeing 707-320 intercontinental makes it's first flight. In 1962, a 707-320B took over the role of U.S. government VIP and presidential transport, designated VC-137C, better known as "Air Force One". A second VC-137C was delivered in 1972. The two aircraft were replaced by 747-200s, designated VC-25, in 1990.

In 1978... The American Jet Industries’ Hustler executive transport makes its first flight.
 
January 12

In 1866... The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain is founded in London (later to become the Royal Aeronautical Society) and is still in existence today.

In 1892... Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer, is born (d. 1976). Gurevich was a Soviet aircraft designer, a partner (with Artem Mikoyan) of the famous MiG military aviation bureau.

In 1929... First U.S. air mail stamped envelopes are available for sale.

In 1944... Lance C. Wade, American pilot, dies (b. 1915). Wing Commander Lance Cleo "Wildcat" Wade, was an American pilot who joined the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War and became a flying ace. He was described in "Fighter Aces of the USA" by Toliver and Constable, as a "distinguished American fighter ace who epitomized perhaps more than any other American airman the wartime accords between Britain and the United States". Since he never transferred to the USAAF, or any other American Air service, W/Cmdr. Wade never got the publicity that other American Aces received and thus is more obscure than his peers.

In 1965... The last of 820 Boeing KC-135 aerial tankers is delivered to the Air Force.

In 1970... A Pan Am Boeing 747, on a proving flight from New York, is the first wide-bodied airliner to make a landing at Heathrow Airport in London.

In 1991... U.S. Army/McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems AH-64A Apache combat helicopters fire first shots of Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles and F/A-18 Hornets claim the first aerial victories of the conflict with ten enemy aircraft downed in the first day.
 
January 13

In 1906... The first air exhibition of the Aero Club of America opens for eight days in the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory in New York City. The Wrights are asked to send the motor that powered their 1903 flying machine but can only salvage the crankshaft and flywheel.

In 1908... The first European to fly one kilometer in a circle is Henri Farman in his Voisin-Farman airplane. Farman’s 1 minute 2 second flight wins him the Grand Prix d’Aviation Deutsche-Archdeacon race in France.

In 1936... A Douglas/Northrop Gamma owned by Jackie Cochran, and leased to Howard Hughes, set a new transcontinental nonstop record flying at an average speed of 259 mph.

In 1942... The first fully practical, single rotor helicopter makes a successful flight flown by its creator, Igor Sikorsky.

In 1942... First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

In 1982... Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
 
January 14

In 1909... Wilbur Wright, his brother Orville and sister Katharine, having just arrived from America, move to Pau in the south of France after completing flying demonstrations at Camp d’Auvers.

In 1935... United Air Lines decides to equip its fleet with a de-icing system for airplane wings, following successful tests on a Boeing 247.

In 1936... Howard Hughes in his H-1 Racer sets a transcontinental speed record of 9 hours 27 minutes.

In 1943... Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel via airplane while in office (Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II).

In 1950... The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.

In 1998... An Afghan cargo plane crashes into a mountain in southwest Pakistan killing more than 50 people.

In 1943... Shannon Lucid, American astronaut, was born. Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid previously held the record for the longest duration stay in space by a woman. She has flown in space five times including a prolonged mission aboard the Mir space station. She was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in December 1996, the tenth astronaut and first woman to be given that honor.
 
January 15

In 1914... The first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States begins service. The Benoist Company, flying its Benoist flying boat, runs a line between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida

In 1991... The first hot-air balloon to cross the Pacific Ocean takes off from Japan and eventually lands in Canada.

In 1999... The first U.S. Super Hornet squadron is established at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.
 
January 16

In 1957... Five B-52Bs of the Ninety-third Bombardment Wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. Archie J. Old, Jr., commander of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force, begin Operation Power Flite, the first nonstop round-the-world flight by turbojet aircraft.

In 1975... In Operation Streak Eagle, the USAF sets new climb-time records with the McDonnell Douglas F-15A aircraft, operating from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. The Streak Eagle reaches a height of 3,000 m (9,843 ft.) in 27.57 sec., 6,000 m (19,685 ft.) in 39.33 sec., 9,000 m (929,528 ft.) in 48.86 sec., 12,000 m (39,370 ft.) in 59.38 sec. and 15,000 m (42,2132 ft.) in 1 min. 17.02 sec.

In 2003... Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which will be its final one. Columbia disintegrates 16 days later on re-entry.
 
ausrere said:
January 15

In 1914... The first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States begins service. The Benoist Company, flying its Benoist flying boat, runs a line between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida
Click to expand...
He would also fly the route that is pretty much where the Sunshine Skyway bridge is now form St. Pete to what is now Palmetto. I think of this each time I cross that bridge.
 
January 17

In 1886... Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer, is born (d. 1955). Martin was an aviation pioneer who started the Glenn L. Martin Company, which later became part of Martin Marietta, and today's Lockheed Martin. Martin.

In 1906... The second Zeppelin (LZ-2) built makes its first successful flight over Lake Constance, Germany, achieving a speed of 25 mph.

In 1966... A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.

In 1991... The first shots of Operation Desert Storm were fired when eight Apache helicopters used HELLFIRE missiles and HYDRA-70 rockets to destroy two Iraqi early-warning, ground control radar sites.
 
January 18

In 1888... Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer, is born (d. 1989) . Sopwith with Fred Sigrist and others set up The Sopwith Aviation Company. The company produced key British World War I aircraft, most famously the Sopwith Camel.

In 1909... The first book to treat the work and accomplishments of the Wright brothers, Les Premiers Hommes-Oiseaux: Wilbur et Orville Wright, is written by François Peyrey (1873-1934) and published in France.

In 1911... Eugene B. Ely makes the first landing by an aircraft on a ship when he flies his Curtiss pusher biplane from Selfridge Field near San Francisco to a specially prepared wooden deck on the stern of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania.

In 1957... Three Boeing B-52s, led by Lucky Lady III, fly 24,325 miles around the world in 45 hours and 19 minutes, at an average speed of 520 mph. They halve the previous around-the-world record set by the Lucky Lady II, a B-50, in 1949.

In 1969... United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay resulting in the loss of all 32 passengers and six crew members.

In 1982... U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds: "Diamond Crash" kills four team members.

In 1991... Eastern Air Lines goes out of business after 62 years, citing financial problems.
 
January 19

In 1784... The largest hot-air balloon ever made, called Le Flesselle by the Montgolfier brothers, makes an ascent at Lyons, France. The balloon’s capacity is 700,000 cubic feet and it goes up to 3,000 feet.

In 1937... Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in his HR-1 Racer in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.

In 1991... The second Rockwell X-31 enhanced fighter makes its first flight.

In 2006... A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes in Hungary.

In 2006... Jet Airways announces its purchase of Air Sahara, creating the largest domestic airline in India.
 
January 20

In 1913... Attempting to establish a new women’s altitude record, Bernetta Miller is covered with oil and temporarily blinded when her oil flow indicator smashes. She makes a safe emergency landing in New York.

In 1930... Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., American pilot and astronaut, is born. Aldrin was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. He was the second person to have set foot on the Moon, after Mission Commander Neil Armstrong.

In 1932... Imperial Airways’ Handley Page H.P.42 Helena leaves Croydon, England, for Paris on the first leg of the company’s new mail service to Cape Town.

In 1975... A Boeing 707, commandeered by three terrorists and flown by a crew of Air France volunteers, lands in Baghdad, Iraq. The terrorists forced the French airline to fly them out of Paris by taking ten travelers hostage yesterday, at Orly airport.

In 1992... Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew.
 
January 21

In 1921... The first triple-triplane aircraft, and the first passenger-carrying aircraft designed to carry more than 100 people that actually got off the ground, is launched at Lake Maggiore, Italy. The flight attempt ends in failure when the 55,000 lb. flying boat nosedives into the lake.

In 1952... The Saab 210 experimental delta-winged research aircraft makes its first flight in Sweden.

In 1958... The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashed, killing the pilot and winch-operator.

In 1970... The Boeing 747 makes its first commercial flight from New York to London for Pan American.

In 1976... First passenger services by a supersonic airliner are begun, as British Airways and Air France Concorde supersonic transports take off simultaneously for Bahrain and Rio de Janeiro.
 
January 22

In 1907... Douglas Corrigan, American pilot, is born (d. 1995). Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan was an American aviator born in Galveston, Texas. In 1938, after a transcontinental flight from Long Beach, California, to New York, he flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland, even though he was supposed to be returning to Long Beach. He claimed that his unauthorized flight was due to a navigational error, caused by heavy cloud cover that obscured landmarks and low-light conditions, causing him to misread his compass.

In 1971... A US Navy P-3C Orion lands in Patuxent River, Maryland, after a flight of 15 hours 21 minutes from Atsugi, Japan, setting a nonstop distance record for a turboprop-powered aircraft of 7,010 miles.

In 1973... A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria killing 176.

In 1987... Glen Tremml, 27, pedals the ultralight aircraft Eagle over Edwards Air Force Base, California, for a human-powered flight record of 37.2 miles.

In 1992... Space Shuttle program: STS-42 Mission - Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.

In 1999... The Boeing 737-600 makes its first flight.
 
January 23

In 1909... The first flight of the French Ble´riot XI, one of the most successful monoplanes designed and built before World War I, is made.

In 1918... The first ascent by an AEF balloon is made at the balloon is made at the balloon school in Cuperly, France.

In 1951... The Douglas F4D Skyray carrier-based interceptor makes its first flight.
 
January 24

In 1919... Army Air Service pilot 1st Lt. Temple M. Joyce makes 300 consecutive loops in a Morane fighter at Issoudun, France.

In 1932... French pilots Paul Codos and Henri Robida land in Paris after flying from Hanoi in French Indochina in a record time of 3 days 4 hours.

In 1962... The success of the McDonnell Phantom in Navy service leads the Air Force to borrow 29 F4Hs from the Navy for test and evaluation under the designation F-110A Spectre.

In 1966... An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.
 
January 25

In 1921... Committee on Law of Aviation of the American Bar Association files an initial report on the necessity of aerial legislation.

In 1983... The Swedish-US Saab-Fairchild 340 transport, the first aircraft built by collaboration, makes its first flight.

In 1990... Avianca Flight 52, on a flight from Bogotá to JFK, crashes into the town of Cove Neck, Long Island, New York after running out of fuel. 73 passengers perished.

In 1996... First McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet for the Swiss Air Force is delivered.

In 2001... A Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.
 
January 26

In 1911... The first practical seaplane is flown. Built and flown by American Glenn Curtiss, it lands and takes off in the waters off San Diego, California.

In 1939... : The Boeing Model 314 Clipper is given permission by the Civil Aeronautics Authority to be used for commercial service by Pan American Airways.

In 1945... The McDonnell XFD-1 prototype of the FH-1 Phantom naval jet fighter makes its first flight.

In 1951... First flight of Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket supersonic research aircraft is made. It is launched from underneath its B-29 mother-ship and exceeds Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in a dive.

In 1984... The U.S. Army accepts the first production model of the Hughes/McDonnell Douglas AH-64A.
 
January 27

In 1894... Captain B. F. S. Baden-Powel (the brother of the first Chief Boy Scout) makes a kite ascent from Pirbright Army Camp, England in what appears to be the first use of man-carrying kites outside China.

In 1927... The Douglas T2D-1 torpedo bomber makes its first flight.

In 1939... First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

In 1967... Apollo 1 - Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center.

In 1989... Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer , dies (b. 1888). In June 1912 Sopwith with Fred Sigrist and others set up The Sopwith Aviation Company. The company produced key British World War I aircraft, most famously the Sopwith Camel.

In 2002... Boeing’s 737, the world’s most widely use twin jet, becomes the first jetliner in history to amass more than 100 million flying hours. The 737 was launched onto the market in 1965.
 
January 28

In 1871... The last balloon to leave Paris during the Persian siege takes off with orders for the French fleet to bring food and supplies to replenish the French capital, an armistice having been signed. The flight of the General Cambronne ends a period of almost exactly 5 months during which the advantages of balloons were put to efficient use.

In 1919... Francis Gabreski, American fighter pilot, was born (d. 2002). Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (Franciszek Gabryszewski) was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War II, a jet fighter ace in Korea, and one of only seven U.S. pilots to become an ace in two wars.

In 1986... Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing astronauts Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, including Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space.

In 2002... TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.
 
January 29

In 1908... The Imperial All-Russia Aero Club is founded and raises money through public subscription by imperial decree.

In 1920... President Woodrow Wilson appoints Orville Wright to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

In 1959... The first jet passenger service across the United States is begun by American Airlines using Boeing 707 jet airliners.

In 2005... The first direct commercial flights from the mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines carrier landed in Beijing.
 
January 30

In 1911... The destroyer USS Terry (DD-25) makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.

In 1948... Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer, dies (b. 1871). Orville and his brother Wilbur were two Americans who are generally credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903

In 1957... Sikorsky’s HSS-1 S-58 piston-engined helicopter, developed for anti-submarine operations, makes its first flight.

In 1958... Ernst Heinkel, German aviation engineer, aircraft designer and manufacturer, dies (b. 1888).

In 1988... Boeing’s long–range 747 SP Friendship One returns to Seattle to set a round-the-world record of 36 hours 54 minutes 15 seconds.

In 1979... Varig 707-323C freighter disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.

In 2001... Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot, dies (b. 1915). Air Vice Marshal James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC and Bar was a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who during the Second World War shot down 38 Luftwaffe aircraft, thus becoming the British flying ace with the greatest number of victories during the war.
 
January 31

In 1818... The Curtiss R-6 twin-float seaplane becomes the first US-built airplane to operate overseas with American forces at Naval Base 13, Ponta Delgado, in the Azores.

In 1949... Pan Am receives the first Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser to be delivered.

In 1957... Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the eight persons killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

In 1958... North American's first jet trainer, the T-2 Buckeye, makes its first flight.

In 1971... Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.

In 2000... An Alaska Airlines MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.

In 2002... Francis Gabreski, American fighter pilot, dies (b. 1919). Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War II, a jet fighter ace in Korea, and a career officer in the United States Air Force with more than 26 years service.
 
Edited because its not January anymore!

Oops. Is it a new month already? :dunno::D See the February post for February's "Today in Aviation History" facts.
 
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