This Day in Air and Space History

1967:    OPERATION BOLO. F-4 Phantom pilots from the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing shoot down seven North Vietnamese MiG-21s in a sweep mission over the Red River valley to set a one-day aerial victory record. This

    1929:    THE QUESTION MARK. Through 7 January, to test inflight refueling and crew and aircraft endurance, Maj Carl A. Spaatz and crew fly the Question Mark, a modified Fokker C2-3 with a Wright

1948:    Allied aircraft log the 100,000th flight of the Berlin Airlift.

1972:    Operation LINEBACKER II. President Nixon halts the bombing of North Vietnam north of the 20th parallel. Peace talks resume in Paris on 8 January.

1951:    KOREAN WAR. Far East Air Forces aircraft flies 900 sorties, the largest number of the month, to damage or destroy locomotives, rail cars, buildings, vehicles, and gun positions.

1972:    Operation LINEBACKER II. President Nixon halts the bombing of North Vietnam north of the 20th parallel. Peace talks resume in Paris on 8 January.

1943:    For extraordinary heroism this date, radio operator TSgt Forrest Vosler receives the Medal of Honor. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3041/vosler-forrest-l.php  

1945: President Truman urges establishment of the Department of Defense with an air arm equal to the Army and Navy. www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/218/special-message-congress-recommending-establishment-department-national

1972:    Operation LINEBACKER II: President Nixon orders this 11-day all-out bombing campaign against targets in Hanoi and Haiphong, one of the most heavily defended areas of the world. Altogether, the USAF completes 714 B-52 and

1903:    Orville Wright makes the first sustained, controlled power airplane flight in the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk. In the fourth, and longest flight of the day, flown by Wilbur, the Wright Flyer flies