January 29

2012 -- Just a few months after declaring the latest model Global Hawk intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned aircraft ‘operational’ the United States Air Force has announced it has decided to discontinue any further procurement of the Block 30 RQ-4 Global Hawk drones. [video]

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter cited increasing costs as a critical factor in the cancellation decision. Media reports indicate that the USAF will retire the Block 30 drones currently in the air fleet and all future production will be terminated. Although cost was a key element in the cancellation decision, the RQ-4 had also not performed to expectations. Initially, the Global Hawk was seen as a viable replacement for the long-lived U-2 manned jet. Anticipated cost savings hoped to be realized in fielding the RQ-4 as a replacement for the U-2 never materialized.  CRS Report for Congress: Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR): The U-2 Aircraft and Global Hawk UAV Programs (pdf)

2012 -- More bad news for Drones: Israel's Heron TP, the "UAV that can reach Iran,” crashed during a test flight with new payloads. near the Tel Nof Air Force Base, the home base of the IAF flight test unit.(outside Rehovot in the center district of Israel).

The Heron TP is the largest UAV in the IAF. It has a 26- meter wingspan – the same as a Boeing 737 – and can stay airborne for up to 45 hours. It can carry a 1,000 kg. payload, making it capable of conducting a wide variety of missions.

2011 -- Employee cuts at U.S. Space and Rocket Center have historian concerned about future of 'exceptional' archives.

2011 -- Egypt’s former air force chief and minister for civil aviation, Ahmed Shafiq, has been designated the new prime minister by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and tasked to form the next Cabinet.

Shafiq, who comes from the air force--the most privileged branch of the military from which Mubarak himself also came--is close to Mubarak and worked under his command in the air force. Shafiq also has the benefit of having held a civilian role as minister of civil aviation since 2002, making him more palatable to the public. The announcement comes shortly after Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was appointed vice president, a position that has been vacant for the past 30 years.

2011 -- A British Midland International flight from London to Cairo turned back due to the curfew being brought forward in the Egyptian capital, a spokesman for the airline said.

2011 -- Two F-16 fighters from Andrews Air Force Base under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled today at 1153 EST in response to a commercial airliner that was out of communication near the National Capital Region.

The small commercial jet aircraft regained communication prior to the fighter aircraft intercepting. The fighters returned to base.

2011 -- Bomb scare on Cairo plane false alarm.

2011 -- China has started test flights of private aircraft in its tightly controlled airspace.

A growing number of wealthy Chinese have sought to buy and fly helicopters and executive jets. But only 30 percent of the nation's airspace is open to civil aviation. The state-run news agency Xinhua, however, reported Chinese aviation authorities are allowing helicopters to fly in low-altitude airspace of less than 1,000 meters over the southern island of Hainan. The test flights involving four helicopters are expected to continue over the next two months. As available civilian airspace in China has become more crowded, the central government said late last year it would open more flight paths in an effort to promote its aviation industry and allow the use of private ircraft. Every private flight in the country needs approval, which can take up to a week.

2010 -- First flight Russia's first low-observable aircraft, the T-50, took place in Russia's Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The serial production of the fifth-generation fighter is expected to be launched in 2015. The PAK FA jet is said to replace MiG-29 and Su-27 in Russia's Air Force. The training of crews for T-50 is to begin in 2013. T-50 is expected to overcome Western analogues in terms of the price-efficiency correlation and raise significant interest on the international market. For the time, it is only the United States that has fifth-generation fighter jets. Unlike the F-22, which the U.S. Congress has ruled cannot be sold to foreign governments, the new Sukhoi design is built with export in mind. India is already a participant in the program with an interest in the two-seat version of the PAK FA.

1991 -- In the Battle of Khafji, Iraqi forces crossed the Kuwait border into Saudi Arabia. Tactical air strikes by coalition air forces, however, routed the invaders in three days.

1979 -- The E-3A Sentry aircraft assumed a continental air defense mission.

1979 -- Canadian WW I Royal Flying Corps Ace Capt. John Elmer Jack Drummon died at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

1973 -- Air Force and commercial aircraft airlifted 21,000 American and allied forces and 7,000 tons of equipment from South Vietnam, through March 29, following the signing of the Vietnam peace pacts.

1971 -- The U.S. Navy's newest carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, the sophisticated EA-6B Prowler, entered service with VAQ-129 at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.

The Prowler, a derivative of the two-place A-6 Intruder, was lengthened to accommodate a fourplace cockpit and replaced the A-3 Skywarrior. VAH-10, redesignated VAQ-129 in 1970, became the replacement training squadron when it commenced instructing aircrew and ground support replacement personnel for all the Navy's Prowler squadrons.

1962 -- The Air Force launched the 47th and last Titan I from Cape Canaveral on a 5,000-mile flight. Of the 47 shots, there were 34 successful, nine partially successful, and four failures.

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

1959 -- U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command received the first ski-modified C-130A.

1959 -- London airport was closed with visibility down to 20 yards. Many flights were diverted into Gatwick. 

Dense fog - the worst for seven years - brought road, rail and air transport in many parts of England and Wales to a virtual standstill.

1944 -- During the largest U.S. air operation to date, Eighth Air Force dispatched 809 heavy bombers to drop 1,886 tons of bombs on Frankfurt and Ludwigshaven, Germany.

1943 -- Eighth Air Force dispatched 86 bombers to Frankfurt, Germany. One formation bombed Ludwigshaven instead due to a navigational error. Three bombers and 16 fighters were lost.

1943 -- Mrs. Ruth Cheney Streeter, was commissioned a major in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (USMCWR) and sworn in as the first Director of the Women's Reserve.

The Women Marines followed the lead of the SPARS and asked WAVE officers to volunteer to transfer into the Marine Corps Women's Reserve to act as the nucleus for the last women's reserve branch established during WW II.

Nineteen WAVE officers stepped forward, and Ruth Streeter was appointed the USMCWR's first director. Streeter, from Morristown, New Jersey, was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and married to Thomas W. Streeter, a retired banker who was supporting the war effort by raising money for the American National Red Cross. They had a daughter, who was in school, and three sons, all of whom were in the U.S. military--two ensigns in the navy and one son in the army.

Major Streeter, 47-years-old, had earned both private and commercial pilot's licenses. She had applied for the WASP five times and been turned down on each application. Streeter then applied to the navy and asked to be assigned as a flight instructor. When she was informed that she would be permitted to teach flying only on the ground, she withdrew her application.

When Major Streeter led the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, 40 percent of its members were trained and worked in the field of aviation.

1942 -- 29-30:  In  the course of the Battle of Rennell Island, the Allies lost a heavy cruiser and had one destroyer badly damaged. Personnel losses totaled 85 killed. Japanese casualties amounted to 60-84 killed and 12 bombers lost.

1926 -- Lt. John A. Macready set a U.S. altitude record of 38,704 feet in an XC05A with Liberty 400-horsepower engines at Dayton, Ohio.

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

1918 -- Oberleutnant Ernst Udet scored his 19th of 62 victories.

1910 -- German-American engineer Karl Ludwig Heimberg is born.

Travelled through Russia during 1936-1937 to a job he had been offered in Japan.  Worked in Japan 1937-1941.  Returning to Germany 1941on leave he was drafted immediately to work at Peenemüende. Worked on test stands for Wasserfall and A4b. Helped with Backfire. Then joined von Braun team, becoming Director, Test Division, in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.

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

1850 -- Australian aeronautical pioneer Lawrence Hargrave is born.

best known for his invention of the box kite. Hargrave "flew" on November 12, 1894, by attaching himself to a huge four kite construction attached to the ground by piano wire. Due to their abilities to carry heavy payloads, steady flight, and capacity for high altitude flight, these kites have had many industrial and military uses in the past. Box kites were used until the 1930's to carry meteorological equipment for high altitude weather studies and by the Royal Air Force as sea rescue equipment to deliver radio aerials. Hargrave also made important studies of wing surfaces and worked with rotary engines and gliders.