JAN30
1885 - Birth of John Henry Towers, USN admiral and pioneer Naval aviator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Towers
1891 - Birth of Francesco Pricolo, Italian aviator, Aeronautic engineer and Chief of staff of the Italian Regia Aeronautica during WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Pricolo
1891 - Birth of Walter Herschel Beech, American pioneer aviator, co-founder with his wife of Beech Aircraft Company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Herschel_Beech
1892 - Birth of Heinrich Lorenz, German WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/lorenz.php
1892 - Birth of Hans Waldhausen, German WWI flying ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Waldhausen - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/waldhausen.php
1894 - Birth of René Pierre Marie Dorme, French WWI fighter ace
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Dorme - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/dorme.php
1895 - Birth of Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov, Russian WWI fighter ace and Dutch airliner pilot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Vasilyevich_Smirnov - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/russia/smirnov.php
1910 - Birth of Nero Moura, Brazilian Air force pilot, WWII fighter pilot and high ranking officer, later founder of Aerovias Brazil and Lois Air and politician.
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Moura
1911 - Longest over-water flight to date was made by John Alexander Douglas McCurdy on a Curtiss pusher biplane when he attempted to fly from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba. After covering 96 miles, he was forced to land in the sea due to loss of oil through a crankcase crack. USS Terry (DD-25) made then the 1st airplane rescue at sea
1915 - 1st flight of the Gotha G.I, German 3 seat heavy bomber biplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotha_G.I
1918 - The School of Aerial Photography opened at Langley Field in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The school trained enlisted men in the art and skill of aerial photography. Their airplane of choice? The JN-4 Curtiss Jenny, a maneuverable two-seat biplane that allowed pilot and photographer to work together to obtain accurate aerial photographs.
http://pinterest.com/pin/74309462573546294/
1920 - Birth of Alexander Geric, Slovak WWII flying ace who served on the Eastern front with the Axis Forces.
http://en.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/title/Geric-Alexander/t/47438
1922 - Birth of Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr., 1st American triple jet-on-jet fighter ace and op American flying ace during the Korean War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_C._McConnell - http://www.cieldegloire.com/014_mc_connell_j.php
1929 - Inter-Island Airways (today Hawaian Airlines) is formed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Airlines#Early_years_.281929.E2.80.931966.29
1930 - 1st flight of the Tupolev ANT-10 (also known as the R-7), soviet prototype single-engined light-bomber/reconnaissance aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_ANT-10
1930 - 1st flight of The Boeing XP-15, American prototype high wing monoplane fighter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_XP-15
1931 - 1st flight of The Tupolev ANT-8, soviet experimental flying boat designed by Tupolev, designated "MDR-2" (MDR meaning Morskoi Dalnii Razvedchik, or Naval Long-Range Reconnaissance) by the military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_ANT-8
1931 - 1st flight of the Breguet 39T, French large 3-engine sesquiplane of all-metal construction with fixed, tailwheel undercarriage, transport prototype aircraft.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9991
1933 - 1st flight of The Curtiss T-32 Condor II, American biplane twin engine airliner and bomber aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_T-32_Condor_II
1934 - Osoaviakhim-1, record-setting, hydrogen-filled Soviet high-altitude balloon designed to seat a crew of three and perform scientific studies of the Earth's stratosphere makes it's 1st flight which lasted over 7 hours, reaching an altitude of 22,000 metres (72,000 ft).During the descent the balloon lost its buoyancy and plunged into an uncontrolled fall, disintegrating in the lower atmosphere. All three crew members were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osoaviakhim-1
1942 - Qantas Imperial Airways Short Empire S.23 'Corio', en route to Surabaya to pick up refugees from the Japanese invasion of Java and transport them to Australia, is shot down by 7 Japanese Mitsubishi A6M-2 Zero off the coast of West Timor, Dutch East Indies, killing 13 over 18
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942_Qantas_Short_Empire_shootdown
1942 - Canadian Pacific Air Lines is formed by the acquisition and merger of Arrow Airways and Canadian Airways, along with all the various subsidiaries of the latter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/January_in_aviation/January_30
1943 – 2nd day of the Battle of Rennell Island. The USS Chicago (CA-29) is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedoes launched from Mitsubishi G4M Type 1 and Mitsubishi G3M Type 96.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Chicago_(CA-29)#Loss_at_the_Battle_of_Rennell_Island
1943 - The H2S radar, 1st airborne, ground scanning radar system, is used by RAF bombers for navigation for the 1st time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2S_radar#Second_World_War
1946 - Death of Oskar von Boenigk, German WWI fighter ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Freiherr_von_Boenigk - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/boenigk.php
1946 - Death of Maryse Hilsz, born Marie-Louise Hilsz, French aviatrix and air force test pilot, in the crash of her Siebel 204 due to bad weather.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryse_Hilsz
1948 - Death of Orville Wright, American Early aviation pioneer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
1948 - Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham disappears with G-AHNP Star Tiger, Avro Tudor Mark IV passenger aircraft owned and operated by British South American Airways on a flight between Santa Maria in the Azores and Bermuda. Royal Flying Corps flying ace during WWI, Conningham was later a senior Royal Air Force commander during WWII, as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief 2nd Tactical Air Force and subsequently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Flying Training Command.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Coningham_(RAF_officer) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/coningham.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-AHNP_%22Star_Tiger%22
1956 - Death of Charles Edward Taylor, who built the 1st aircraft engine used by the Wright brothers and was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright engines and airplanes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Taylor_(mechanic)
1957 - 1st flight of the Sikorsky HSS-1F, S-58 piston-engined helicopter, developped for anti-submarine operations.
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/sik_s-58.php
1958 - Death of Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer and manufacturer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Heinkel
1960 - Death of Paul Codos, French Raid Aviator.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Codos
1964 - Death of Paul Wenzel, German WWI flying ace.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/wenzel.php
1964 - Launch of Ranger 6, American spacecraft carriying six television cameras high-resolution to photographthe lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_6
1965 - 1st flight of The Distributor Wing DW-1, American prototype agricultural aircraft of unorthodox design. It had a second engine mounted directly below its main powerplant, using this second motor to power a distribution system that used compressed air to carry dry chemicals from a hopper and blow them out of the trailing edges of its wings, over the flaps. Varying the power of this blower engine also provided lift control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Distributors_Distributor_Wing
1969 - Launch of Isis-1 (International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies), Canadian satellite to study the ionosphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISIS_(satellite)
1974 - Pan Am Flight 806 Boeing 707-321B 'Clipper Radiant' crashed on approach to Pago Pago International Airport, killing 97 over 101.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_806
1975 - Turkish Airlines Flight 345 Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship 'Bursa' crashed into the Sea of Marmara during its final approach in poor visibility to Istanbul Yesilköy Airport killing all 42.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Airlines_Flight_345
1979 – A Varig 707-323C freighter disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PP-VLU
1981 - British Airways make a record 96 automatic landings in one day at Heathrow airport.
1983 - MN Airlines, LLC, operating as Sun Country Airlines, American low-cost airline, begins operations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Country_Airlines
1984 - Death of Kenneth Burns Conn, Canadian WWI fighter ace, businessman who served as head of the Royal Canadian Air Force Historical Section during WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Burns_Conn - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/conn.php
1985 - Death of Harold Arthur Sydney Molyneux, Canadian WWI flying ace who also served during WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Molyneux - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/molyneux.php
1988 - Boeing 747SP owned by United Airlines sets a round-the-world air speed record from seattle and back. The Friendship Foundation 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
1992 - STS-42, Space Shuttle Discovery mission with the Spacelab module, is back on earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-42
1998 - British Airways launches the low-fare airline Go.
2000 – Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 Airbus A310-304 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169 over 179.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_Airways_Flight_431
2001 - Death of James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson, British WWII fighter ace who also flew during the Korean war, highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the German Luftwaffe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Johnson_(RAF_officer) - http://cieldegloire.com/002_raf_johnson_j_e.php
2005 - A Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules C3 is shotdown in Iraq during operation Telic, probably by Sunni insurgents, killing all 10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Royal_Air_Force_Hercules_shootdown
2007 - A Boeing 702 spacecraft carrying NSS-8 (Dutch telecommunications satellite) is destroyed when the rocket that was launching it exploded on launch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSS-8
2009 - Death of Walter Omiccioli, Italian WWII pilot who flew in the italian Air force until 1973, commanding a T-33 Squadron.
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Omiccioli
2012 - USA3000 Airlines, American airline, cease operations.