On This Day in History

1967: Project TURNKEY. The USAF completes a $52 million airbase at Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, in one year. It was the first base to be designed and built completely under Air Force supervision.

1997: The Pathfinder RPV sets a new world record for high-altitude flight by a solar powered aircraft, reaching 67,350 ft. This flight to the highest altitude ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft took place at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii.

1953: The Thunderbirds, officially known as the 3600th Air Demonstration Flight, give their first per­formance at Luke AFB.

1912: Capt Charles DeForest Chandler becomes the first person to fire a machine gun from an airplane in the US.