August 17, 1943
1943: 8AF sends over 300 B-17s on raid of Schweinfurt and Regensburg, losing 60; leadership re-evaluates need for fighter escort.
August 16, 1960
1960: Capt Joseph W. Kittinger Jr. jumps from 102,800 feet over New Mexico; he reaches speeds over 600 mph during 13:08 minute descent.
August 15, 1945
1945: VICTORY DAY–JAPAN. The Japanese government announces its intention to surrender “unconditionally.”
August 14, 1912
1912: Sgt. Vernon Burge receives rating as the U.S. Army’s first enlisted pilot.
August 13, 1953
1953: The XC-99, the world’s largest plane to date, makes its first transatlantic flight from Kelly AFB to Frankfurt, Germany, with 60,000 pounds of cargo. ...
August 10, 1976
1976: Boeing’s YC-14 flies its maiden flight around Seattle.
August 9, 1944
1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. For valorous actions while leading 33 B-26 Marauders against a railroad bridge on the Seine River, Capt Darrell R. Lindsey is ...
August 8, 1946
1946: First flight of the Convair XB-36 Peacemaker prototype 42-13570 at Fort Worth.
August 7, 1916
1916: The Wright Company and the Glenn L. Martin Company merge into the Wright Martin Aircraft Corporation.
August 6, 1945
Flying his “Enola Gay” B-29 from Tinian Island, Lt Col Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. and his crew drop the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. ...