Information > Heritage > Week In History
|July 22, 1935|
Capt. Albert F. Hegenberger won the 1934 Collier Trophy for developing and demonstrating a successful blind landing system.
|July 22, 1940|
Radar used for the first time in shooting down an enemy bomber.
|July 22, 1944|
Fifteenth Air Force made the first all-fighter unit shuttle raid in Europe from Italy with 76 P-38 Lightnings and 58 Mustangs. They hit German air bases in Rumania at Buzau and Zilistea, hear Ploesti and landed at Russian bases.
|July 22, 1948|
Three B-29s from the 43rd Bomb Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., flew around the world. Lt. Col. R. W. Kline's "Gas Gobbler" and 1st Lt. A. M. Neal's "Lucky Lady," completed the flight on Aug 6, a 20,000-mile in 103 hours, 50 minutes, The third aircraft crashed into the Arabian Sea.
|July 22, 1948|
Military Air Transportation Service deployed men and equipment to establish an Airlift Task Force in Germany to relieve Berlin. Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner commanded the Task Force operations under U.S. Air Forces in Europe's operational control.
|July 22, 1960|
NASA launched its Iris sounding rocket for the first time. The rocket lifted a 100-pound package from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to an altitude of 140 miles.
|July 22, 1966|
The YF-12A Test Force received the Mackay Trophy from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. McConnell, at Edwards AFB, Calif., for flights on May 1, 1965 that set nine world speed and altitude records.
|July 22, 1971|
The short range attack missile completed its flight test program successfully. The program included 38 test flights over the White Sands Missile Test Range, N.M.
|July 22, 1987|
Strategic Air Command provided KC-10s and KC-135s support to Navy fighters during Operation Ernest Will over the Persian Gulf. The aircraft protected Kuwati convoys from Iranian attack during the war between Iran and Iraq. Additionally, U. S. Air Force E-3 airborne warning and control system jointed C-5s and C-141s in supporting this operation.
|July 22, 1991|
A 445th Military Airlift Wing C-141 delivered nearly 20 tons of medical supplies to Ulan Bator, Mongolia to overcome a critical shortage. This mission was the first U.S. Air Force flight to Mongolia.
|July 22, 2002|
At McConnell AFB, Kan., the YAL-1A, the world's first directed-energy combat aircraft, completed its first flight. The YAL-1A, a modified Boeing 747, carried an airborne laser to destroy enemy missiles in their boost phases.
|July 23, 1918|
The Director of the Army Air Service ordered every field in the United States to have an air ambulance. This was based on the February 1918 efforts of Maj. Nelson E. Driver, a medical officer, and Capt. William C. Ocker, commander of Flight Training at Gerstner Field, La., to modify the rear cockpit seat of a JN-4 Jenny to accommodate a patient in a semi-reclining position.
|July 23, 1956|
At Edwards AFB, Calif., Lt. Col. Frank K. "Pete" Everest flew the Bell-X-2 at a record speed of Mach 2.87, over 1,900 mph.
|July 23, 1958|
The Boeing Vertol VZ-2A Tiltwing research aircraft successfully transitioned from vertical to horizontal flight and back for the first time.
|July 23, 1959|
A Boeing 707 flew the first commercial flight from New York to Moscow. The eight-hour, 54-minute flight time broke the record for the 5,090-mile flight of 11 hours, six minutes made a few days earlier by a Russian TU-114.
|July 23, 1970|
McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, first wide-bodied trijet transport, rolled out at Long Beach, Calif.
|July 23, 1995|
To ease economic suffering in Byelorussia, a 433rd Airlift Wing C-5 Galaxy airlifted in 28 pallets of medical supplies, blankets, clothes, furniture and a military ambulance.
|July 23, 1999|
The Space Shuttle Columbia flew a mission to deploy a new satellite, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to watch X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe lasting through July 27. In the mission, Col. Eileen Collins, the first female pilot of a space shuttle, became the first female commander of a space shuttle mission.
|July 24, 1943|
Eighth Air Force sent 167 heavy bombers on a raid against the nitrate works at Heraya, Norway. This was the Eighth's first mission to Norway and its longest (1,900 miles roundtrip) to date.
|July 24, 1950|
First missile launched from the Joint Long Range Proving Grounds at Cape Canaveral, Fla., down the Atlantic Missile Range. It had a German V-2 as its first stage and a WAC Corporal as a second stage booster.
|July 24, 1959|
A Thor nose cone made the first known stabilized non-tumbling flight for a reentry vehicle.
|July 24, 1961|
The first Atlas F to be deployed in the field arrived at Schilling AFB, Kan. for the 550th Strategic Missile Squadron.
|July 24, 1964|
President Lyndon B. Johnson disclosed the SR-71's development.
|July 24, 1965|
The 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron lost an aircraft in Southeast Asia due to a surface-to-air missile attack. It was the first aircraft lost in the Vietnam conflict.
|July 24, 1970|
The C-5A Galaxy flew its first flight from the U.S. to Europe, from Charleston AFB, S.C., to Dover AFB, Del. to Rhein-Main AB, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, and Torrejon AB, Spain.
|July 24, 1970|
Pacific Air Forces inactivated the 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Clark AB, Philippines and its detachments in Tainan, Taiwan, and Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. The 509th's F-102 fighters were flown to Itazike to be scrapped because it cost less to salvage the planes than it did to ship them back to the states.
|July 24, 1973|
At Eglin AFB, Fla., the Hound Dog missile completed its last operational test flight.
|July 24, 1974|
Mather AFB, Calif. received the 19th and last Boeing T-43A aircraft delivered for undergraduate navigator training.
|July 24, 1983|
Two U.S. Air Force UH-1 helicopters moved medical personnel and 10 tons of food and medical supplies to aid victims of a flood in western Ecuador lasting through Aug.6.
|July 24, 1990|
With the termination of the Cold War, the landing of Strategic Air Command's Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass Airborne Command Post at Offutt AFB, Neb., ended 29 years of continuous operation with more than 250 million miles of accident-free flying.
|July 24, 1994|
U.S. Air Force airlift aircraft started flying relief supplies to Rwandan refugees in Zaire after President Bill Clinton directed "an immediate and massive increase" in U.S. relief efforts to assist Rwandan refugees during Operation Support Hope. Through Sept. 11, Air Mobility Command flew 700 airlift missions to transport over 11,000 passengers and 23,000 short tons. Nearly 400 KC-135 missions refueled the C-5s and C-141s while KC-10s flew several dozen missions to ferry fuel from Harare, Zimbabwe, to Entebbe.
|July 25, 1944|
An effort to breakout U.S. forces at Normandy began with 3,000 planes, including 1,500 Eighth Air Force bombers, attacking German posts at St. Lo near American lines for three hours during Operation Cobra. Although the operation succeeded a few bombers hit the wrong target area and killed almost 500 U.S. troops, including Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, the U.S. Ground Forces commander.
|July 25, 1946|
Task Group 1.5, a 2,200-man U.S. Army Air Force element, conducted the second phase of a test to burst an A-bomb underwater off Bikini Island during Operation Crossroads. This group provided aircraft and personnel to photograph and collect data on the explosion.
|July 25, 1961|
A Titan 1 completed its first full-range flight test with an all-inertial guidance system. It launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and flew down the Atlantic Missile Range.
|July 25, 1981|
A B-52 with an offensive avionics system fired an air-launched cruise missile for the first time.
|July 25, 1983|
Military Airlift Command operated 29 C-141 missions to move 397 tons of equipment from the U.S. and Europe to Chad as part of a security assistance program lasting through Sept. 15.
|July 25, 2001|
U.S. Transportation Command commander-in-chief and Air Mobility Command Commander, Gen. Charles T. Robertson Jr. flew the first of three C-37A special airlift support aircraft, from the Gulfstream plant in Savannah to MacDill AFB, Fla. for duty with the 6th Air Mobility Wing. The U.S. Air Force purchased the C-37A to replace older EC-135 and CT-43 aircraft. Other C-37As would be based at Andrews AFB, Md. at Chievres, Belgium and at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
|July 25, 2005|
The 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Dyess AFB, Texas, established a B-1B Lancer "first" over the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., by having two B-1Bs auto-release a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, a single warhead self-propelled missile and three dissimilar weapons from the same launcher. The JASSMs struck their targets after traveling more than 170 nautical miles.
|July 26, 1915|
Capt. Benjamin D. Foulois and his 1st Aero Squadron with eight JN-2 airplanes traveled from San Diego by train to Fort Sill, Okla. through July 29. There they participated in observation and fire control experiments with the Field Artillery School lasting through July 29.
|July 26, 1937|
Jacqueline Cochran, flying a Beechcraft, set the women's U.S. record of 203.895 mph for 1,000 kilometers.
|July 26, 1939|
A B-17 Flying Fortress, carrying a 1,123-pound load, set a 204-mph average speed record over a closed triangular course of 1,000 kilometers.
|July 26, 1943|
A flight of 10 P-47s destined for various units in the United Kingdom, supported by two B-24s and one C-87, flew from Presque Isle, Maine, to Prestwick, Scotland, with stops at Goose Bay, Labrador, Bluie West One, Greenland and Reykjavik, Iceland. The formation lost one P-47 in a landing accident at Greenland, while a second P-47 developed a mechanical problem on the last leg to Prestwick and had to return to Iceland. When the eight P-47s landed on Aug. 11, the pilots achieved the first, last, and only flight of single-engine fighters (reciprocating engines) across the Atlantic in World War II. The pilots from the 2nd Ferrying Group at Newcastle Army AB in Wilmington, Del., included Capt. Barry Goldwater, who ran for President in 1964.
|July 26, 1947|
President Harry S. Truman approved the National Security Act of 1947. He also issued Executive Order 9877 which by presidential directive outlined the duties of the three services. Each was responsible for the area in which it operated -- ground, sea and air, although the Navy retained an air arm and the Marine Corps.
|July 26, 1949|
The National Military Establishment announced production of the Sikorsky H-5H, the first amphibian helicopter.
|July 27, 1909|
Orville Wright, with Lt. Frank P. Lahm riding as a passenger, flew the Army's first airplane for one hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds to set a two-man endurance record. Thus, the first official flight test of the airplane fulfilled a contract requirement for an hour-long flight with a passenger.
|July 27, 1958|
Commanders Malcoln Ross and Morton L. Lewis ascended to 82,000 feet in a balloon with 5,500 pounds of equipment, where they stayed aloft for 34 hours, 30 minutes to set an endurance record for a flight into the stratosphere. They also transmitted the first stratospheric television pictures.
|July 27, 1962|
Strategic Air Command's first Minuteman 1A went into site A-9 at Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
|July 27, 1964|
The 1964 Daniel Guggenheim Medal was awarded posthumously to Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the father of American rockery.
|July 27, 1967|
The U.S. Air Force launched a flare activated radio-biological observatory satellite to study solar-flare radiation.
|July 27, 1972|
Test pilot Irving L. Burrows took the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle up for its first flight at Edwards AFB, Calif.
|July 27, 1976|
An SR-71 flies at a speed of 2,092.29 mph over a 1,000-kilometer course over Edwards AFB, Calif. This flight sets three closed-circuit records: world absolute speed; world jet speed with 1,000-kilogram payload; and world jet speed without payload.
|July 27, 1986|
A C-9 Nightingale flew Father Lawrence Jenco, who was released as a hostage by Muslim extremist to Lebanon, from Damascus to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Medical Center at Rhein-Main AB, Germany.
|July 27, 1996|
Lt. Gen. Lawrence Boese, the Eleventh Air Force Commander at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, joined Senator Ted Stevens and Gen. Richard Hawley, the Air Combat Command Commander, in a dedication ceremony at Eielson AFB, Alaska, to christen a B-2 the "Spirit of Alaska."
|July 28, 1917|
The first American Aero Squadron to arrive for duty with the American Expeditionary Forces, the 29th Provisional (later 400th Construction) Aero Squadron, docked at Liverpool, England.
|July 28, 1930|
Instrument flying added to the U.S. Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School curriculum at Kelly Field, Texas.
|July 28, 1934|
Maj. William E. Kepner and Capts. Albert W. Stevens and Orville A. Anderson reached 60,613 feet in altitude in a three-million-cubic foot, hydrogen-filled balloon, the Explorer I, during a flight financed by the National Geographic Society. The balloon exploded on descent and the three men had to parachute to safety. They all received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
|July 28, 1938|
In a Seversky P-35, Lt. Harold L. Neely achieved a 278-mph average speed and completed a transcontinental flight in nine hours, 54 minutes flying time. His journey, however, took 11 hours, 29 minutes in elapsed time with stops.
|July 28, 1943|
Eighth Air Force's first long-range fighter escort mission occurred when 100 P-47 Thunderbolts escorted B-17 Flying Fortresses from the Dutch border.
|July 28, 1943|
During a bombing mission in Europe, numerous enemy fighters attacked and severely damaged Flight Officer John C. Morgan's B-17. A cannon shell totally shattered the windscreen and split the pilot's skull open, leaving him in a crazed condition. Flight Officer Morgan, as copilot, tried to fly the plane, while struggling with the pilot to keep him from flying the bomber. He continued the flight and for two hours flew in formation with one hand at the controls and the other holding off the pilot until the navigator came in to provide relief. For completing the bombing mission and safety returning to England, Flight Officer Morgan received the Medal of Honor. (Morgan's feat formed the basis of the movie "Twelve O'Clock High")
|July 28, 1950|
The first SA-16 Albatross arrived in Japan to provide air rescue service off the Korean coast.
|July 28, 1952|
Strategic Air Command presented its general concept of operations and maintenance for the Snark, Rascal and Navaho missiles to the Air Force.
|July 28, 1953|
A B-47 Stratojet bomber set a nonstop transatlantic speed record by completing the 2,925 miles from Limestone AFB, Me. to Fairford, England, in four hours, 43 minutes. It averaged 618 mph.
|July 28, 1959|
The first Atlas D launch took place at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
|July 28, 1964|
Cape Kennedy launched the spacecraft on its flight to the moon. On July 31, the spacecraft took and relayed 4,316 high quality closeup pictures of the lunar surface to earth. It then crashed on the moon near the Sea of Clouds.
|July 28, 1973|
Skylab 3 launched from Kennedy Space Center on a two-stage Saturn IB, with Allan L. Bean, Jack R. Lousma and Dr. Owen K. Garriott. They rendezvoused with the workshop on the fifth orbit, undocked on Sept. 25, and then separated. The craft splashed down 250 miles southwest of San Diego.
|July 28, 1976|
Boeing's Compass Cope, the largest remote piloted vehicle in the U.S. Air Force todate, completed its first flight.
|July 28, 1980|
At Edwards AFB, Calif., an SR-71 flown by Capt. Eldon W. Joersz and Maj. George T. Morgan, the reconnaissance systems officer, set four world records, including 2,193.64 mph for the absolute and jet speed records over a 15-25 kilometer straight course. In a second flight, Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Lang A. Elliot, reconnaissance systems officer, flew their SR-71 to 85,069 feet in altitude to set absolute and jet records for altitude in horizontal flight.
|July 28, 1980|
Four 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing F-4E Phantoms from Clark AB, Philippines, flew to Tengah AB, Singapore, in the first visit by U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft to the city-state since 1965 through July 30.
|July 28, 2001|
Aircrews from the 509th Bomb Wing, 325 Bomb Squadron at Whiteman AFB, Mo., flew back-to-back 21-hour sorties in just 45.5 hours using the B-2 "Spirit of Kansas." It performed flybys at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Royal Air Force Cottesmore, England, on July 28 and 29. The crews performed three aerial refuelings, one with a KC-10 and the others with KC-135s, and they practiced a Global Power bombing mission. The maintenance crews at Whiteman performed a quick turn on the aircraft in 2.5 hours