On This Day in History

1918: Raoul G. Lufbery, who posted 17 aerial victories with Lafayette Escadrille before joining American forces, dies in aerial combat.

1947:  Over New York, 101 B-29s “theoretically” drop bombs in SAC’s first Maximum Effort mission.            

LAST MERCURY FLIGHT. After 22-orbits around earth, Maj L. Gordon Cooper ends a 34-hour, 20-minute flight in Mercury capsule Faith 7 before landing in the Pacific, 80 miles southeast of Midway Island. He was the

  1949: BERLIN AIRLIFT ENDS. The Soviet Union ends the blockade after delivery of 2,325,510 tons on 277,569 missions.

1964: Jackie Cochran becomes 1st woman to fly more than Mach 2, 1,429 MPH in an F-104G at Edwards AFB.

1942:  The carrier USS Ranger, off the African Gold Coast, launches 60 USAAF P-40s to Accra.

1978: McDonnell Douglas delivers the 5,000th F-4 Phantom built to the Air Force. This date is disputed: some sources say May 24th.

MACKAY TROPHY. An AC-119K gunship attacks a heavily defended road section in SEA. Despite losing 15 feet of the aircraft’s right wing and an aileron, the crew continues the battle and then returns to base. For