1979: THREE-MILE ISLAND DISASTER. Thru 15 Apr MAC flies 15 support missions, delivering a 40,000-pound rawindsonde station (a radiosonde is tracked by a radio direction-finding device to determine the velocity of winds aloft), lead bricks […]
2003: By this date, to support the Global War on Terrorism, the ANG had flown 72 % of the fighter sorties, 52 % of the tanker sorties, and 35 % of the airlift sorties
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. An F-15 shoots down two MiG-29s in aerial combat over Yugoslavia on the third day of the operation.
1944: Fifteenth Air Force makes its first operational delivery of a VB-1 Azon radio-controlled bomb against the Avisio Viaduct to cut the Brenner Pass between Italy and greater Germany.
1945: Operation VARSITY. An Allied airborne and amphibious assault crosses the Rhine River. More than 2,000 transports and gliders from the IX Troop Carrier Command drop two airborne divisions near Wesel, Germany, in daylight.
1903: The first patent on the Wright Brothers’ airplane, based on their 1902 glider, is filed. It is issued on 22 May 1906.
1944: Through 23 March, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts and buries Pompeii airdrome, where the 340th Bomb Group was conducting operations. Lava cinders destroy or damage some 88 B-25s in what may have been the
2003: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Circa 9:30 PM EST, US forces begin the air war against Iraq with Tomahawk cruise missile strikes.
1945: Lt George Green lands and rescues downed wingman Maj Pierce McKennon by seating him on his lap, using Mustang “2-in-1” trick.
