Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was in the United States Navy and saw action in the Korean War. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he flew over 900 flights in a variety of aircraft. As a research pilot, Armstrong served as project pilot on the F-100 Super Sabre A and C aircraft, F-101 Voodoo, and the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. He also flew the Bell X-1B, Bell X-5, North American X-15, F-105 Thunderchief, F-106 Delta Dart, B-47 Stratojet, KC-135 Stratotanker and Paresev. He graduated from Purdue University.

The B-36 was the only American aircraft with the range and payload to carry such bombs from airfields on American soil to targets in the USSR, as storing nuclear weapons in foreign countries was diplomatically delicate. The nuclear deterrent the B-36 afforded may have kept the Soviet Army from fighting alongside the North Korean and Chinese armies during the Korean War. Convair touted the B-36 as an "aluminum overcast," a "long rifle" to give SAC a global reach. When General Curtis LeMay headed SAC (1949-57) and turned it into an effective nuclear delivery force, the B-36 formed the heart of his command. Its maximum payload was more than four times that of the B-29, even exceeding that of the B-52.

• Span: 230 ft 0 in (70.10 m)
• Length: 162 ft 1 in (49.40 m)
• Height: 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
• Engines: 6× Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 "Wasp Major" radials, 3,800 hp (2,500 kW) each
• Cruising Speed: 230 mph (200 kn, 380 km/h) with jets off
• Range: 6,795 mi (5,905 nmi, 10,945 km) with 10,000 lb (4,535 kg) payload
• First Flight: 8 August 1946

January 17

• 2013 – Algerian attack helicopters open fire on vehicles carrying hostages and their captors during a hostage crisis at the Ain Amenas natural gas facility in Algeria, apparently killing dozens, although casualty estimates vary widely.^[1]

• 2013 – The European Aviation Safety Agency endorses the Federal Aviation Administration's grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.^[2] By the end of the day, Dreamliners have been grounded worldwide pending investigation of the possibility of a fire hazard posed by their lithium-ion batteries.^[3]

• 2009 – A Eurocopter AS 532 helicopter of the French Navy crashes into the sea off Gabon shortly after take-off from the amphibious assault ship Foudre, killing eight of the ten personnel on board.^[4]

• 2009 – Lithuanian airline FlyLal suspends operations.^[5]

• 2008 – British Airways Flight 38, a Boeing 777-200ER, lands short of the runway at London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom. Nine of the 152 people on board are treated for minor injuries, but there are no fatalities; this is the first loss of a Boeing 777-200ER, and the first loss of any 777 due to operational incident.

• 2003 – A USMC McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18D Hornet crashes into the Pacific Ocean off of MCAS Miramar, California, due to a material failure during a functional check flight with one engine shut down. Both crew eject safely and are recovered.

• 1997 – A Delta II 7925 rocket carrying the first GPS Block IIR satellite, GPS IIR-1, exploded only 13 seconds after liftoff, raining flaming debris all over Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

• 1977 – Avro Vulcan B.2, XM600, of 101 Squadron, crashes at Spilsby, Lincs. after the five crew abandon the aircraft due to a fire in the bomb bay.

• 1994 – Introduction: Airbus A330

• 1991 – US-led forces attack Iraq in a massive air assault after a United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from occupied Kuwait passes unheeded.

• 1991 – On the first day of Gulf War, USN pilots Nick Mongilio and Mark I. Fox were sent from the USS Saratoga in the Red Sea to bomb an airfield in southwestern Iraq. While en route, they were warned by an E-2 C of approaching MiG-21 aircraft. The Hornets shot down two MiGs and resumed their bombing run, each carrying four 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs, before returning to Saratoga.

• 1991 – An unarmed USAF EF-111 A Raven, crewed by Captain James A. Denton and Captain Brent D. Brandon scored a kill against an Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1EQ, which they managed to maneuver into the ground, making it the only F-111 to achieve an aerial victory over another aircraft.

• 1982 – Death of William Thomas Price, British WWI flying ace.

• 1974 – Death of Wilhelm "Willy" Thöne, German WWI flying ace.

• 1967 – First flight of the Sukhoi Su-24 T-6:2I

• 1969 – Soyuz 4 returns on earth.

• 1966 – A B-52 Stratofortress collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker during aerial refueling near Palomares, Spain. Seven crewmembers are killed in the crash, and two of the B-52's four nuclear weapons rupture, scattering radioactive material over the countryside. One bomb lands intact near the town, and another is lost at sea. It is later recovered intact 5 miles (8 km) offshore.

• 1966 – A Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star on a night mission crashes and burns in a wooded area 11 miles NW of Eglin AFB, killing both crew. According to the base information officer, the wreckage was located in a densely wooded area which made the approach of rescue vehicles difficult. KWF were Capt. Robert D. Freeman, 30, of Lindsey, Oklahoma, and 2nd Lt. Roger A. Carr, 26, of Ames, Iowa. Both were residents of Fort Walton Beach, Florida and were assigned to the Air Proving Ground Center. Capt. Freeman is survived by his widow, Faith, and three children, Donna, 7, Robert L., 5, and Alison C., 18 months; and his parents Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Freeman, of Lindsey. Lt. Carr is survived by his widow, Karen, and a five-month-old son, Craig; and by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Carr, of Ames.

• 1966 – Two crew of an Republic F-105F Thunderchief based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, escape injury when the engine of the fighter-bomber in which they are engaged in a photo-chase mission catches fire, forcing them to eject. The airframe impacts in East Bay, near Tyndall AFB, Florida at 1008 hrs. Pilot Capt. James D. Clendenen and photographer S/Sgt. J. G. Cain are recovered from the water by a Tyndall base helicopter.

• 1963 – Joe Walker flies the North American X15 A to a height of 82,600 m (271,000 feet) and, having flown higher than 50 miles, he qualifies for astronaut wings.

• 1963 – First flight of the Short SC.7 Skyvan.

• 1957 – During the second bomber stream of training mission, "WEDDING BRAVO", by 30 Convair B-36 Peacemaker bombers of the 7th Bomb Wing, out of Carswell AFB, Texas, a jet engine explosion results in one B-36 landing at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, on fire. There was no further damage to the aircraft and no injuries to the crew, commanded by Capt. Robert L. Lewis.

• 1949 – In the BSAA Star Ariel disappearance, a British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV disappears without a trace en route from Bermuda to Jamaica with 20 on board. The loss of the aircraft, along with the 1948 BSAA Star Tiger disappearance remain unsolved to this day, with the resulting speculation helping to develop the Bermuda Triangle legend.

• 1948 – BOAC begins to replace flying boat routes with the Lockheed Constellation

• 1948 – First flight of a RCAF de Havilland Vampire in Canada.

• 1945 – Twentieth Air Force B-29 s bomb Formosa.

• 1943 – Birth of Daniel Charles Brandenstein, US Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut.

• 1943 – (Overnight) 188 British bombers attack Berlin, with poor accuracy. The Germans expect a return visit to Berlin and put up a better defense; the British lose 22 bombers, a very high 11.8 percent loss rate

• 1941 – During the French-Thai War, the Battle of Koh Chang opens with a bombing attack on Royal Thai Navy warships at Koh Chang, Thailand, by a French Loire 130 flying boat and ends with Royal Thai Air Force aircraft bombing French warships. All air attacks in the battle are ineffective, although a Thai bomb which fails to explode hits the French light cruiser La Motte-Picquet.

• 1941 – Sinclair-Ralston agreement noted that 25 RCAF squadrons were to form in UK over the next 18 months (exclusive to the three already in the UK).

• 1939 – Prototype Belgian Renard R-36 all-metal fighter, OO-ARW, crashes near Nivelles, killing pilot Lt. Visconte Eric de Spoelberg. Official investigation is inconclusive, no evidence of material failure being discovered. Most probable causes are concluded to be either that radio equipment came loose during a high-G manoeuver, jamming the controls, or that the pilot became incapacitated. Development programme suspended after this accident. Airframe had accumulated 75:30 hours flight time.

• 1938 – Spanish Nationalist Fiat CR.32 fighters clash with Republican Polikarpov fighters over the front lines at Teruel, Spain, during the Battle of Teruel.

• 1936 – The United States Army Air Corps orders 13 Boeing Y1 B-17 Flying Fortresses, previously known by the manufacturer’s designation, Model 299.

• 1929 – The Colonial Flying Service and Scully Walton Ambulance Company organizes the United State’s first civilian air ambulance service.

• 1920 – Canada established a set of regulations that required all Pilots, Air Engineers and Aircraft to be licensed by the Air Board.

• 1920 – The first United States Navy airplane flight in the Hawaiian Islands takes place when a plane takes off from Honolulu.

• 1906 – Zeppelin LZ2 (makes a forced landing and is destroyed in high winds the following day).

• 1902 – Gustave Whitehead reportedly flies a flying boat rebuilt from his Whitehead Aeroplane No. 21 of the previous year on an 11 km (7 mile) flight and lands safely.

• 1899 – Birth of Nevil Shute Norway, popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer.

• 1892 – Birth of Thomas Mottershead VC, DCM, British WWI pilot.

• 1892 – Birth of Amedeo Mecozzi, Italian WWI flying ace, WWII general of the Italian Regia Aeronautica and a military theorist credited as the founding father of the "Attack air force" doctrine.

• 1891 – Birth of Hans Klein, German WWI fighter ace, and WWII Luftwaffe high-ranking officer.

• 1890 – Birth of Paul Armand Petit, French WWI flying ace.

• 1886 – Birth of Glenn Luther Martin, American aviation pioneer, Founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company.

• 1885 – Birth of Karl Nikitsch, Austro-Hungarian WWI flying ace.

• 1847 – Birth of Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky, Russian scientist, founding father of modern aero- and hydrodynamics. Whereas contemporary scientists scoffed at the idea of human flight, Zhukovsky was the first to undertake the study of airflow.