May 3, 1973
1973: The 1972 Mackay Trophy goes to three Vietnam aces: Captains Richard S. “Steve” Ritchie, Charles B. DeBellevue, and Jeffery S. Feinstein.
May 2,1923
Lieutenants John Macready and Oakley Kelly 1923: MACKAY TROPHY and Distinguished Flying Cross. Lts. Kelly & Maccready fly 1st nonstop transcontinental flight, NY-San Diego, 2,520 miles in 26:50:03 seconds
May 1, 1943
MEDAL OF HONOR: A B-17 bomber, with Sgt Maynard H. Smith as gunner, comes under intense enemy fire while returning from a mission to enemy-occupied Europe. Smith, on his first mission, elects
April 26, 1966
April 26, 1966: F-4C crew Major Paul Gilmore and 1Lt William Smith, shoots down a MiG-21 over N. Vietnam, 1st to be destroyed in combat. Shown here with their McDonnell F-4C Phantom II, (vnmilitaryhistory.net)
January 2, 1942
1942: Gen Henry H. Arnold establishes a new numbered Air Force, which later becomes Eighth Air Force. The Eighth sustains over 26,000 deaths in World War II, greater than the US Marines.
January 1, 1929
1929: THE QUESTION MARK. Through 7 January, to test in-flight refueling and crew and aircraft endurance, Maj Carl A. Spaatz and crew fly the Question Mark, a modified Fokker C2-3 with a Wright 220
January 31,1991
1991: BATTLE OF KHAFJI. Iraqi forces cross the Kuwaiti border into Saudi Arabia. The USAF suffers its greatest loss of the war when the Iraqis shoot down the AC-130H Spectre gunship “Spirit 03,” killing
