JAN15
1799 - The French Army's Company of Aeronauts is abolished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_of_Aeronauts#Decline_and_disbanding
1881 - Birth of John Rodgers, officer in the United States Navy and early aviator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rodgers_(naval_officer,_World_War_I)
1886 - Birth of Clarence Decatur "C. D." Howe, powerful Canadian Cabinet minister and businessman who took major parts in many new enterprises, including the founding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Trans-Canada Air Lines (today Air Canada).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._D._Howe
1889 - Birth of Aleksandr Alexandrovich Kozakov, most successful Russian WWI fighter ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Kazakov - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/russia/kozakov.php
1892 - Birth of Claud Robert James Thompson, Australian WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/thompson3.php
1894 - Birth of Phillip Bernard "Bruce" Prothero, Scottish WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/prothero.php
1895 - Birth of Cyril Burfield Ridley, British WWI flying ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Ridley - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/ridley.php
1896 - Birth of Fritz Kieckhäfer, German WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/kieckhafer.php
1896 - Birth of Sidney Emerson Ellis, Canadian Flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/ellis2.php
1898 - Birth of George Donald Tod, American WWI Flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/tod.php
1915 - 1st plane to be launched from a submarine (U-12) is a Friedrichshafen FF.29, German lightweight two-seat floatplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrichshafen_FF.29 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterseeboot_12_(1911)
1915 - Lt. Byron Quinby Jones set a new one-man duration record of 8 hours, and 53 minutes in a Martin T tractor biplane at San Diego, California.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Q._Jones#Signal_Corps_Aviation - http://earlyaviators.com/ejonesby.htm
1919 - Maj A.S.C. MacLaren and Cpt Robert Halley arrive in Delhi, completing the 1st England-India flight, in a Handley Page V/1500
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_V/1500
1927 - Boeing Air Transport is formed, to carry airmail between Chicago and San Francisco. This will eventually become United Airlines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/January_in_aviation/January_15
1928 - Death of Paul Marie Raphael Santelli, French WWI Balloon buster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Santelli - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/santelli.php
1931 - Gen. Italo Balbo leads the 1st formation flight across the South Atlantic. Twelve Savoia-Marchetti S.55s lands in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil coming from Orbetello, Italy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Balbo#Aviator
1934 - The sole Dewoitine D.332 Emeraude, French 8-passenger 3 engine airliner, struck a hill near Corbigny in a violent snowstorm on the final return stage of the inaugural Paris-Saigon service, killing all 10 on board including French Aviator Maurice Noguès.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=311 - http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Nogu%C3%A8s
1935 - 1st flight of the RWD-13, Polish touring three-seater high-wing monoplane, biggest commercial success of the RWD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWD-13
1937 - 1st flight of the Lioré-et-Olivier LeO 45, French low-wing monoplane twin engine medium bomber.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lior%C3%A9_et_Olivier_LeO_45
1937 - 1st flight of The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", American 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Model_18
1943 - USMC Major Joseph Jacob 'Joe' Foss shoot down 3 Japanese Mitsubishi A6 M Zero with his Grumman F4F Wildcat, bringing his victory total to 26, 1st American to match Eddie Rickenbacker’s WWI score of 26. Making him the 2nd-highest-scoring Marine Corps ace in history and the highest-scoring one to score all of his victories while in Marine Corps service.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Foss
1943 - 1st flight of The Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose, American pusher engined prototype fighter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_XP-54
1944 - Death of Mario Cobianchi, Italian Aviation pioneer, author and aircraft designer.
http://earlyaviators.com/ecobianc.htm
1947 - 1st flight of the Kaman K-125, Charles Kaman's 1st helicopter, which utilized intermeshing rotors and Kaman's patented servo-flap stability control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-125
1948 - 1st flight of The Hawker Fury trainer, British fighter 2 seat trainer for the Iraqi Air Force aircraft, with a second separate cockpit introduced immediately aft of the fighter cockpit, Modifications of the Hawker Sea Fury
http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/hawker_seafury.php
1950 - Death of Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold, Aviation pioneer, 2nd rated pilot in the history of the USAF, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), Commanding General of the USAF during WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_H._Arnold
1953 - A RAF Avro Lancaster GR3 from No. 38 Squadron RAF following HMS Gambia and other RN ships on an anti-submarine exercise, collided with a RAF Vickers Valetta C1 in poor visibility and heavy rain, killing all 26 on both planes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Mediterranean_Sea_Lancaster_and_Valetta_mid-air_collision
1954 - 1st flight of The Nord 1402A Gerfaut, French delta-wing experimental research aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Gerfaut - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=8527
1966 - 1st flight of The CallAir B-1, small agricultural, single-seat aircraft with a low wing incorporating spraying gear, Built by IMCO and Aero Commander
http://www.aviastar.org/manufacturers/1148.html
1966 - Avianca Flight 4 Douglas C-54 stalled and crashed into shallow water soon as the aircraft reached 100 ft (30.5 m) after take off from Cartagena, Colombia, probably due to an engine failure, killing 56 over 64.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avianca_Flight_4
1969 - Birth of Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin, Russian air force pilot and cosmonaut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Ivanishin
1969 - Launch of Soyuz 5, Soviet spacecraft which mission was to dock with soyuz 4, with cosmonaut Boris Valentinovich Volynov, 1st Jewish in space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_5
1970 - Death of William Thomas Piper Sr., American airplane manufacturer, and founder, eponym, and 1st president of Piper Aircraft Corporation. Piper served in the Spanish-American War and WWI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Piper
1973 - 1st flight of the Dassault-Breguet 'Mirage' F1C, Interceptor version for export of the french jet aircraft.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=5686
1976 - 1st flight of The Alpha Aviation Alpha 2000, New Zealand two-seat, all-metal training and general aviation aircraft, development of French Apex Aircraft's Robin R2000 series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_2000
1976 - 1st flight of the Mudry CAP-20L, Single seat low wing monoplane aerobatic aircraft, lightened version of the CAP-20.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1237
1977 - Skyline Sweden Linjeflyg Flight 618 Vickers 838 Viscount crashed during approach into a residential area near of Kälvesta, five km short of the runway, killing all aboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4lvesta_air_disaster
1981 - A Sikorsky S61N of British Airways Helicopters and Bell 212s of Bristow Helicopters are involved in the rescue of nine men from a sinking ship 185 kilometres (115 miles) north-east of the Shetlands
1990 - 1st flight of The Denel Rooivalk (previously AH-2 and CSH-2), South African attack helicopter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denel_Rooivalk
1991 - 1st hot-air balloon 'Virgin Pacific Flyer' to cross the Pacific Ocean takes off from Japan to Northern Canada with Per Lindstrand and Richard Branson, flying in the trans-oceanic jet streams, it recorded the highest ground speed for a manned balloon at 245 mph (394 km/h).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon#Today
1992 - A Lockheed U-2R Crashed into the Sea of Japan off the Korean coast while on flight out of Osan Air Base, South Korea, killing its pilot Marty McGregor.
1997 - Death of Hagiri Matsuo, Japanese russo-japanese war and WWII flying ace.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%BE%BD%E5%88%87%E6%9D%BE%E9%9B%84 - http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_hagiri_m.php
2002 - 1st flight of the Airbus A318, French twin engine medium jet airliner.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9465&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=64
2009 - An Afghan army Mil Mi-17 crashed in the Adraskan District of Herat province, killing all 13 on board, including General Fazaludin Sayar, the regional commander in charge of the western part of Afghanistan. The government declared the crash was due to bad weather, while the Taliban claimed to have shot the helicopter down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aviation_accidents_and_incidents_in_the_War_in_Afghanistan#2009
2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 Airbus A320-214 makes an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. All passengers and crew members survive.