On This Day in History

1952:   KOREAN WAR. Maj. William H. Wescott destroys his fifth MiG in four weeks to become the war’s 12th ace.  His F-86 Saber Jet, “Lady Francis,” had also been flown by World War II/Korean War […]

1967:   Maj Gen Benjamin D. Foulois dies at Andrews AFB at the age of 87. He was the first person to fly an Army dirigible; first military observer on a cross-country flight, with Orville Wright;

1943:   The first class of women pilots graduates from US Army Air Force flight training (shown on their initial reporting date).

1991:   SECAF Donald B. Rice announces the winner of the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition. He selects the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics F-22 with the Pratt and Whitney F-119 engine.

1916:   The Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American pilots fighting with the French, is established.

1967:   MEDAL OF HONOR. Maj Leo K. Thorsness receives his medal by protecting a mission to rescue downed airmen in North Vietnam. Flying an F-105, he shoots down one MiG-17, damages another, and drives off

1942:   From the carrier USS Hornet, located 668 miles off Tokyo, Lt Col James H. Doolittle leads 16 B-25s in the first raid on Japan. The range of the mission causes the raiders to crash

1956:   Lockheed unveils its F-104A Starfighter, 55-2956, at Palmdale. General Otto P. Weyland observes, “This is much more than just another fighter, it is a significant and tremendous step forward in our progress in supersonic

1949:   BERLIN AIRLIFT’S BIGGEST DAY. Military aircraft deliver a record 12,940 tons of supplies to Berlin in 1,398 flights within 24 hours.

1999:   Operation ALLIED FORCE. USA Gen Wesley Clark, SACEUR, asks for 300 more U.S. aircraft, bringing the total to 800.