JAN29
1850 - Birth of Lawrence Hargrave, English Born Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Hargrave
1887 - Birth of August Haefeli, early Swiss aircraft designer.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Haefeli
1894 - Birth of Karl Meyer, German WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/meyer3.php
1895 - Birth of James "Robbo" Milne Robb, Scottish WWI flying ace, Fleet aviation officer and during WWII high ranking officer in the RAF. One of the Only to have flown a Jet fighter (a Gloster meteor) on service.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robb_(RAF_officer) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/robb.php
1895 - Birth of George Robert Howsam, Canadian WWI fighter ace, Director of Training for the RCAF during WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._Howsam - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/howsam.php
1895 - Birth of Paul Frank Baer, American WWI flying ace who scored the 1st aerial victory ever for American military aviation. Post war he became an Aeronautic inspector and Commercial pilot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Frank_Baer - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/baer.php
1908 - The Imperial All-Russia Aero Club is founded and raises money through public subscription by imperial decree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/January_in_aviation/January_29
1910 - Birth of Philip Gerald Cochran, American USAAC WWII pilot who developped many tactical air combat, air transport, and air assault techniques.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Cochran
1918 - 1st unqualified air combat victory at night against another aeroplane takes place, when two Sopwith Camels of No.44 Squadron shoot down a Gotha bomber during a raid on London.
1919 - Birth of Helma Sjuts, German balloonist
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helma_Sjuts
1924 - Raoul Pateras Pescara flies an experimental helicopter in Paris. The machine flew 800 metres (2,640 ft) in just over 10 minutes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Pateras_Pescara#References
1926 - John A. Macready set a U.S. altitude record of 38,704 feet in an XC05A with Liberty 400-horsepower engines at Dayton, Ohio.
http://www.nationalaviation.org/macready-john/
1932 - 1st flight of The Bristol Type 120 (or 118A) , British general-purpose military aircraft, two-seat biplane prototype for overseas markets, evolution of the Type 118 with a powerful engine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Type_118
1932 - 1st flight of the de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth, British low cost and economical light small biplane passenger aircraft. Many components were identical to those being used for the de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth . The pilot sat in a raised cockpit behind the small enclosed passenger cabin, which was usually fitted with three seats for short range hops.The wings folded for space saving storage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Fox_Moth
1938 - Death of Gerard "Jerry" Freebairn Vultee, American aircraft designer, killed with his wife in the crash of his Stinson Reliant SR-9C cabin monoplane after it slammed during a snow storm into the snow covered ground atop East Pocket Mesa on the North side of Sterling Canyon, about 3 miles north of Mount Wilson
http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/file?id=1040683 - http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Vultee
1939 - Carl Bode sets an altidude record of 3427m with the 2nd prototype helicopter Focke-Wulf Fw 61.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_61#Rekordfl.C3.BCge
1940 - 1st flight of The Bolkhovitinov S (Sparka – twin/joined (engine)) , Russian high speed bomber prototype aircraft powered by two M-103 inline engines in tandem in a fuselage nose, driving two contra-rotating coaxial three-blade propellers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolkhovitinov_S
1941 - 1st flight of The Tupolev Tu-2 (Development names ANT-58 and 103, NATO reporting name: Bat),twin-engine Soviet (high) speed daylight bomber.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-2
1942 - Birth of Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, Cuban Air force pilot and Cosmonaut, 1st Cuban citizen and the 1st person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the USA to travel into earth orbit. He was also the 1st Hispanic and 1st Black person in space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaldo_Tamayo_M%C3%A9ndez
1945 - Birth of Jeffrey S. Feinstein, weapon systems officer (WSO) aboard F-4 Phantom IIs, 3rd and last USAF flying ace of the Vietnam War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Feinstein
1948 - Birth of Mamoru "Mark" Mohri, Japanese scientist, NASDA and NASA astronaut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Mohri
1953 - 1st flight of The Morane-Saulnier MS.755 Fleuret, prototype French two-seat jet trainer which was developed into the larger four-seat MS.760 Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_MS.755_Fleuret - http://www.aviafrance.com/morane-saulnier-ms-755-fleuret--aviation-france-1376.htm
1957 - Death of Ludovic Georges Louis Verdier, Early french aviator, aircraft designer and helicopter pioneer, Test pilot and instrcutor for Farman.
http://www.airmemorialcreusois.fr/docs/2011/VERDIER.pdf
1970 - Death of Viktor Fedorovich Bolkhovitinov, Soviet engineer, team-leader of the developers of the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Bolkhovitinov
1973 - EgyptAir Ilyushin Il-18D crashed in the Kyrenia mountain range in Cyprus on its descent while approaching the Nicosia airport runway from the north, killing all 37.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_EgyptAir_Ilyushin_Il-18_crash
1979 - Death of John Elmer "Jack" Drummond, Canadian WWI flying ace
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/drummond1.php
1988 - Boeing 747SP owned by United Airlines start a round-the-world air speed record from seattle. The Friendship Foundation, was established and all money went to children's charities. A ticket on the flight cost $5,000, and in total the flight raised more than $500,000 for children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_One
1998 - Launch Soyuz TM-27, Russian space mission to MIR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TM-27
2009 - MacAir Airlines Pty Ltd, Australian regional Airline, placed itself into voluntary administration and ceased operations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacAir_Airlines
2010 - 1st flight of The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 "Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation", Russian twin-engine stealth jet fighter prototype.