On This Day in History

1921: FIRST AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING. Wesley May, with a 5-gallon can of gasoline strapped to his back, steps from the wing of a Lincoln Standard to the wing skid of a JN-4 and climbs to the […]

1943: Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces make their first joint attack on Rabaul, along with Navy carrier planes.

1942: Through 13 November, the 33rd Fighter Group flies 100 P-40s from the carriers USS Chenango and HMS Archer to land at Port Lyautey airfield, Morocco.

MEDALS OF HONOR received for valorous service this date: 1944: 1Lt Donald J. Gott and 2Lt William E. Metzger (same B-17 crew) Gott citation: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/donald-j-gott Metzger citation: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/william-e-metzger-jr 1967: Capt Lance P. Sijan Sijan citation:

  1909: The French government awards Orville and Wilbur Wright the Legion of Honor at its New York consulate.

1912: Through 13 November, the Army uses aircraft to make artillery adjustments for the first time at Fort Riley, Kansas. In this demonstration, Capt Frederick B. Hennessy, Lt Henry H. Arnold, and Lt Thomas DeWitt

1971: Mariner IX, launched on 30 May 1971, goes into an elliptical orbit around Mars, and its first photographs are broadcast live by national television.

1954: The Strategic Air Command retires its last B-29 bomber (number 42-94032) to the aircraft sto­rage facility at Davis Monthan AFB, AZ.

1989: McDonnell-Douglas delivers the last of 470 F-15C/Ds (no. 86-0166) to the Air Force. Col Rick Parsons, 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing Commander, flies the aircraft from St Louis to its new home at Eglin AFB,

  1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. While on a mission over Meresberg, Germany, a bomber sustains three hits from anti-aircraft shells. A severely wounded navigator, Lt Robert E. Femoyer, re­fuses morphine to keep his head clear