First flight of the F-16.
It was an accident. During high speed ground test a horizontal stabilizer was damaged and the test pilot took the aircraft off due to the severe oscillations it was experiencing.
One of the greatest fighter aircraft of all time, it remains in production, although not for the U.S.
A British Mosquito is shot down with its Oboe navigational aid intact, allowing the Germans to develop countermeasures.
The United States Army Air Force announced the production of the Bell P-59 Airacomet. The first US jet fighter aircraft, it would prove to be a disappointment and provided no real advantage over existing piston engined aircraft.
Grumman F6Fs made their combat debut.
The fighter was a leap in Navy fighter technology, joining the Corsair as a new generation of flattop launched fighter aircraft. The plane would be responsible for approximately 2/3s of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the U.S. Navy during World War Two.
The carrier born first use was in a day-long raid on Marcus Island.
Radar equipped F6F's would remain in service until 1954, completing their service as night fighters.
On the same day, the 14th Air Force bombed Gia Lam, Co Bi, Ichang Airfiled, Stonecutters Island and the Yoyang rail yards. The 5th Air Force hit trages in Saint George Channel and the Dutch East Indes.
Major Joseph Duckworth, together with Lt. Ralph O'Hair, of the U.S. Army Air Force flew an AT-6 into the eye of a hurricane, becoming the first people to do so on purpose.
Duckworth was an advocate for training on instruments. He had been an Army Air Corps flyer, originally starting in 1927, and recalled to service during World War Two.
The hurricane bore the name The Surprise Hurricane due to weather censoring during World War Two, which the storm would end due to killing 19 people and causing $17,000,000 in damage.
Croatia became a republic, for a time, after Prince Aimone, the Duke of Astsoria, who had been made king of Croatia by Mussolini, resigned, deciding that desertion was the better part of valor.
The Fascist Grand Council and the Fascist Party were abolished.
Sarah Sundin notes, on her blog:
Today in World War II History—July 27, 1943: Flight nurse Lt. Ruth Gardiner (805th MAETS) is killed in a plane crash in Naknek, Alaska; the first US Army nurse to die in WWII.
She also notes the horrific Hamburg firestorm of the night of July 27, 1943, which resulted from the RAF's Operation Gomorrah bombing raid that evening.
The Pointblank Directive was issued by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff directing the implementation of Operation Pointblank, the round the clock Allied bomber offensive over Europe. The order prioritized targets for the combined Allied air forces, starting with the German aircraft industry.
The order met with passive resistance from RAF's fighter command, which refused to provide escorts to the U.S. Army Air Force during the daylight, citing the inability to convert fighters for long ranges. This would lead the US to study the conversion of P-51 Mustangs to that use. It would also lead to considerable tension between the US and the UK on the topic of daylight escorts.
Sarah Sundin noted Pointblank on her blog:
Today in World War II History—June 10, 1943: US & UK begin Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany; priorities for bombing targets are submarine yards, aircraft & ball bearings factories, and oil targets
Russo Ukrainian War
A Russian Su-27 caused an American drone to crash in the Black Sea yesterday. The two aircraft may have collided.
Russia, which tends to be as dense as a box of rocks about the capabilities of Western equipment, lied and said the drone just suddenly veered off and fell in the sea, apparently wholly unaware that the drone photographed the SU-27 and we'd have the film footage.
D'uh.
Russia is trying to recover the drone presently.
An interesting aspect of this is the release of jet fuel by the Su-27 near the drone. It may be just me, but I'd fear that the drone's engine would ignite the fuel and send the Su-27 up in a big ball of flame, but apparently not.
F4U Corsairs arrived at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, their first combat deployment. The first actual combat would take place two days later.
While a carrier plane, the Corsair was at first deployed from land airstrips out of concerns that the high angle at which it sat when on its tail would make carrier operations difficult. This was rapidly proven a false fear, as the Royal Navy put their Corsairs to carrier operations immediately.
Feb 4, cont.
China v. US.
Perhaps for the first time since World War One, a US aircraft has shot down a balloon.
