Feb. 27, 1947. Lt. Col. Robert Thacker (pilot) and Lt. John M. Ard (copilot) set the record for the longest nonstop flight by a propeller-driven fighter aircraft when they fly Betty Jo, a slightly modified (no guns or armor) North American P-82B Twin Mustang, 5,051 miles from Hickam Field, Hawaii, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, in 14 hours and 33 minutes. The crew started with 2,215 gallons of fuel and landed with only 60 gallons left.

March 16, 1947. Company pilots Sam Shannon and Russell R. Rogers make the first flight of the Convair 240 airliner prototype at San Diego. Versions of the 240 would be used by the Air Force as the T-29 navigator trainer and as the C-131 Samaritan medical evacuation/transport aircraft. One aircraft, the NC-131 variable stability test-bed, was still flying into the 1990s.

March 17, 1947. Company test pilot George Krebs makes the first flight of the North American XB-45 Tornado at Muroc AAF, Calif. The B-45 is the first American four engine jet bomber to fly and it is the first USAF jet bomber to go into production.

June 19, 1947. AAF Col. Albert Boyd sets the recognized absolute speed record, as he flies the Lockheed P-80R to a speed of 623.608 mph at Muroc Dry Lake, Calif.

July 26, 1947. President Harry Truman signs the National Defense Act of 1947, the enabling legislation that will create a separate Air Force. The act was signed on board Sacred Cow, the Douglas VC-54C that serves as the dedicated presidential aircraft, as Truman is preparing to leave Washington for Independence, Mo., to tend to his gravely ill mother.

July 29–30, 1947. Lt. Col. O.F. Lassiter sets a recognized class record for speed over a 10,000-kilometer closed circuit without payload (piston engined aircraft) of 273.194 mph in a Boeing B-29A Superfortress at Dayton, Ohio.

Aug. 20, 1947. Cmdr. T. Caldwell flew D-558-1 Skystreak to a new world speed record of 640.7 mph.

Aug. 25, 1947. Marine Maj. Marion Carl breaks the recognized absolute speed record set two months previously as he pilots the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak to a speed of 650.8 mph at Muroc Dry Lake, Calif.

Sept. 18, 1947. The US Air Force begins operations as a separate service, with W. Stuart Symington as its first Secretary. Gen. Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz, Commanding General of the AAF, becomes the first Chief of Staff on Sept. 26.
Read “ Symington Remembers,” Air Force Magazine, July 1984; Stuart Symington; and Spaatz

Sept. 26, 1947. Transfer of personnel, bases, and materiel from the Army to the new Department of the Air Force is ordered by Defense Secretary James W. Forrestal.
Read The First Five Years of the First 50

Oct. 1, 1947. Company test pilot George S. “Wheaties” Welch, who was one of the few AAF fighter pilots who was able to get airborne during the Pearl Harbor attack, makes the first flight of the North American XP-86 Sabre at Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. The Sabre is the Air Force’s first swept-wing fighter.
Read “ The Fielding of the F-86,” Air Force Magazine, December 1997.

Oct. 1, 1947. The Grumman XJR2F-1 amphibian makes its first flight at Bethpage, Long Island, N.Y. Originally nicknamed Pelican, the Albatross, as it was officially named after the second prototype has flown, would go on to serve with the Navy, Coast Guard, several foreign countries, and in Air Force service as the SA-16 and HU-16. During the Korean War, Albatross crews would rescue almost 1,000 United Nations pilots from coastal waters and rivers. The HU-16 would serve with the Air Force until 1975 and with several other countries until 1983.

Oct. 3, 1947. General Order No. 4 is issued, which announces the assignment of officers to various staff positions in the newly created United States Air Force.

Oct. 14, 1947. Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager becomes the first pilot to reach supersonic speeds in level flight when he reaches a speed of Mach 1.06 (700 mph) at an altitude of 45,000 feet in the rocket powered Bell XS 1 (later redesignated X-1) over Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. His aircraft was released by a B-29 mother ship in mid air. Read Valor: Always a Fighter Pilot

Oct. 21, 1947. The first flight of the Northrop YB-49 flying wing jet bomber is made. The Air Force’s Northrop B-2 stealth bomber, when it debuts in 1989, will bear a family resemblance to this airplane.

Oct. 24, 1947. Company pilots Fred Rowley and Carl Alber make the first flight of the Grumman XJR2F-1, the prototype of the SA-16 (redesignated HU-16 in 1962) Albatross rescue amphibian, at Bethpage, Long Island, N.Y. Air Force and Navy Albatross crews will rescue nearly 1,100 downed airmen from hostile waters during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Nov. 2, 1947. Howard Hughes’s wooden H-4 Hercules (the Spruce Goose) makes its first (and only) flight over Los Angeles Harbor, Calif. Distance traveled is about a mile.

Nov. 23, 1947. The world’s largest landplane, the Convair XC-99, the cargo version of the B-36 bomber, makes its first flight at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, with company test pilots Russell R. Rogers and Beryl A. Erickson at the controls. (This aircraft would lift a record 100,000-pound payload on April 15, 1949.) Read Big Fella

Dec. 30, 1947. The prototype of the MiG-15 (NATO reporting name “Fagot”) fighter, makes its first flight at the Soviet flight test center at Ramenskoye. Powered by an unlicensed copy of the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, the MiG-15 was flown by Russian and North Korean pilots during the Korean War.

1948

Jan. 2, 1948. The Air Force Technical Museum at Patterson Field, Ohio, is officially established as a successor to the Army Aeronautical Museum. Only small technical items such as engines and cameras are displayed, not full sized aircraft.

Jan. 30, 1948. Orville Wright dies in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, at age 76.

Feb. 20, 1948. The first Boeing B-50 Superfortress is delivered to Strategic Air Command (SAC).

March 22, 1948. Company pilot Tony LeVier makes the first flight of the Lockheed TP-80C, the prototype of the T-33, the world’s first jet trainer, at Van Nuys, Calif.

April 21, 1948. Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal assigns the primary responsibility for air defense of the United States to the Air Force.

April 26, 1948. Based on a study that documented the waste and inefficiency caused by segregation in the Air Force, the Air Force announces that it must “eliminate segregation among its personnel by the unrestricted use of Negro personnel in free competition for any duty within the Air Force for which they may qualify.” It was the first service to announce a policy of racial integration—well before President Truman’s Executive Order on equal opportunity in July 1948.
Read When the Color Line Ended

April 30, 1948. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg succeeds Gen. Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz as Air Force Chief of Staff.

May 26, 1948. President Truman announces his approval of the bill that establishes the Civil Air Patrol as a civilian auxiliary of the Air Force.

June 1, 1948. Navy and Air Force air transport systems are consolidated into Military Air Transport Service under USAF.

June 11, 1948. Air Force Regulation 65-60 is published, which changes the designations for several Air Force aircraft. Fighters will now have the prefix “F” instead of “P” for pursuit (which dated back to 1925); reconnaissance aircraft will now be designated “R” instead of “F” (ostensibly for “fotographic,” which dated back to 1930); and helicopters will now be designated “H” instead of “R” (for rotary wing). P-80s, P-82s, and P-84s will now be called F-80s, F-82s, and F-84s.

June 11, 1948. The Office of the Chief of Air Force chaplains is created, almost a year after the creation of the service.

June 26, 1948. Operation Vittles, the Berlin Airlift, begins with Douglas C-47 crews bringing 80 tons of supplies into the city on the first day. By the time it ends, on Sept. 30, 1949, the Anglo-American airlift will have delivered a total of 2.3 million tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the beleaguered city.
Read “ Why the Airlift Succeeded,” Air Force Magazine, May 1988; The Berlin Airlift; and Inside the Berlin Airlift

July 16, 1948. The Vickers VC2 Viscount prototype makes its first flight at Wisly, England. It is the worlds’ first turboprop-powered airliner.

Aug. 6, 1948. First B-29s to circumnavigate the globe land near Tucson, Ariz., after leisurely 15-day trip.

Aug. 16, 1948. Company pilot Fred C. Bretcher makes the first flight of the Northrop XF-89 Scorpion all-weather interceptor at Muroc AFB, Calif.

Aug. 23, 1948. Company test pilot Ed Schoch makes the first free flight of the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin parasite fighter, which is intended to be carried in the bomb bay of a B-36 to provide fighter support over a target for the longer range bombers. The XF-85 is lowered on a trapeze during this test from the bomb bay of Monstro, the Boeing EB-29 mother ship over Muroc, Calif. The pilot spools up, unhooks from the trapeze, and begins flying. Schoch is unable to hook back up and then shatters the canopy when he strikes the trapeze. Shaken, Schoch lands the XF-85 safely on the desert.

Sept. 15, 1948. Air Force Maj. Richard L. Johnson, flying a North American F-86A, recaptures the world speed record for the US, streaking over a three-kilometer course at Muroc AFB, Calif., at 670.981 mph.

Sept. 18, 1948. Company pilot Sam Shannon makes the first official flight of the Convair Model 7002, the first true delta-winged aircraft, at Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. (A short hop had been made on June 9.) (The 7002 was to be the prototype for the XF-92, but USAF canceled the design program and accepted the 7002 as the XF-92 in June 1949.) The XF-92 will prove invaluable as a test-bed for delta-wing research.

Oct. 14, 1948. Company test pilot Ed Schoch makes the first successful unhook, free flight, and hook on in the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin parasite fighter over Muroc, Calif. Intended to be carried in the bomb bay of a B-36 for fighter support over a target, the two XF-85s built would only be flown seven times and would only make three successful in-flight hook ups. The project would be abandoned in early 1949 when air refueling proves more practical.

Oct. 15, 1948. Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner assumes command of the newly created American and British Combined Airlift Task Force during the Berlin Airlift.

Oct. 31, 1948. Air Force reveals use of ramjet engines on piloted aircraft, a modified F-80, for first time.

Dec. 2, 1948. Company pilot Vern L. Carstens makes the first flight of the Beech Model 45 demonstrator, the prototype of what will become the T- 34A Mentor. The T- 34 is the Air Force’s first new primary trainer since World War II. Although the Mentor will be phased out of USAF service by 1961, the Navy will use the turboprop powered T-34C for primary instruction until the turn of the century.

Dec. 7–8, 1948. On the seventh anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a 7th Bomb Wing crew flies a Convair B-36B Peacemaker on a 35.5-hour mission from Carswell AFB, Tex., to Hawaii and back to Carswell without refueling. The B-36 was undetected by local air defenses at Pearl Harbor.

Dec. 16, 1948. Company pilot Charles Tucker makes the first flight of the Northrop X-4 Bantam at Muroc AFB, Calif. The X-4 is designed to study flight characteristics of small, swept-wing semitailless aircraft at transonic speeds.

Dec. 17, 1948. The 45th anniversary of the first powered flight is commemorated by the donation of the original Wright Flyer to the Smithsonian Institution. The Flyer was displayed in Britain for many years because of a dispute between the Wrights and the Smithsonian.

Dec. 29, 1948. Defense Secretary Forrestal says the US is working on an “Earth satellite vehicle program,” a project to study the operation of guided rockets beyond Earth’s pull of gravity.

Dec. 31, 1948. The 100,000th flight of the Berlin Airlift is made.

1949

Jan. 19, 1949. The first flight of the Martin XB-61 Matador mobile, short range, surface to surface tactical missile is carried out at Holloman AFB, N.M.

Jan. 25, 1949. The US Air Force adopts blue uniforms.
Read The Sartorial Splendor of the Air Force That Was

Feb. 4, 1949. The Civil Aeronautics Administration sanctions the use of the ground-controlled approach as a “primary aid” for commercial airline crews.

Feb. 26–March 2, 1949. Lucky Lady II, a SAC B-50A, is flown on the first nonstop flight around the world. The 23,452-mile flight takes 94 hours, one minute and requires four midair refuelings.
Read Lucky Lady II

March 4, 1949. The US Navy’s Martin JRM-2 flying boat Caroline Mars carries a record 269 passengers from San Diego to San Francisco.

March 4, 1949. Crews flying in the Berlin Airlift haul in excess of one million tons of cargo.

March 15, 1949. Military Air Transport Service establishes Global Weather Central at Offutt AFB, Neb., for support of SAC.

March 26, 1949. USAF’s 10-engined B-36D makes first flight.
Read “ Revolt of the Admirals,” Air Force Magazine, May 1988 and The Battle of the B-36

April 4, 1949. Meeting in Washington, D.C., the foreign ministers of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal, along with the US Secretary of State, sign the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO.

April 6, 1949. At the height of the Berlin Airlift, Tempelhof Airport sets a ground control approach record for sustained landings—an airplane lands at the field less than four minutes apart for six hours. One ground control approach crew directs the landing of 102 aircraft between 5:50 p.m. and midnight.

April 16, 1949. Company test pilot Tony LeVier and flight test engineer Glenn Fulkerson make the first flight of the YF-94 Starfire prototype from Van Nuys, Calif. The Starfire, actually modified TP-80, is designed to serve as an interim all-weather interceptor.

May 7, 1949. Retired Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold is given the permanent rank of General of the Air Force by a special act of Congress.

May 9, 1949. Republic chief test pilot Carl Bellinger makes the first flight of the XF-91 Thunderceptor jet/rocket hybrid at Muroc AFB, Calif. This unusual aircraft has variable incidence wings of inverse taper design (wider at the tips than at the roots).

May 11, 1949. President Truman signs a bill providing for a 3,000-mile-long guided-missile test range for the Air Force. The range is subsequently established at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

May 12, 1949. The Soviets reopen land and water routes into Berlin. However, Operation Vittles, the Berlin airlift, would continue until Sept. 30 to build a backlog of supplies.

July 27, 1949. The de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet airliner prototype makes its first flight at Hatfield, England. The Comet, which enters revenue service with BOAC (British Overseas Airways Company) in 1952, is the world’s first jet airliner.

Aug. 9, 1949. Navy Lt. J.L. Fruin makes the first emergency escape with an ejection seat in the US near Walterboro, S.C. His McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee is traveling at more than 500 knots at the time.

Aug. 10, 1949. President Truman signs amendments to the National Security Act of 1947, converting the National Military Establishment to the Department of Defense. Read The Quiet Coup of 1949

Sept. 23, 1949. President Truman announces that the Soviet Union has successfully exploded an atomic bomb.

Sept. 24, 1949. Company pilot Jean “Skip” Ziegler makes the first flight of the North American T-28 Trojan at Inglewood, Calif. While its career as a trainer will be relatively short, the T-28 will later be used as an attack aircraft in the early stages of the US involvement in Vietnam.

Sept. 30, 1949. The Berlin Airlift, gradually reduced since May 12, 1949, officially ends. Results show 2,343,301.5 tons of supplies carried on 277,264 flights. US planes carried 1,783,826 tons. A crew flying a Douglas C-54 Skymaster makes the last flight when it lifts off from Rhein Main.

Oct. 4, 1949. A Fairchild C-82 Packet crew airdrops an entire field artillery battery by parachute at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Nov. 18, 1949. A crew flying a Douglas C-74 Globemaster I, The Champ, lands at RAF Marham, UK, after a 23-hour flight from Mobile, Ala. On board are a transatlantic-record 103 passengers and crew.

1950

Jan. 14, 1950. General of the Air Force Henry H. “Hap” Arnold dies of a heart ailment at Sonoma, Calif.

Jan. 23, 1950. USAF establishes Research and Development Command, eight months later it was redesignated Air Research and Development Command. In 1961 ARDC will be redesignated Air Force Systems Command.

Jan. 31, 1950. President Truman announces that he has directed the Atomic Energy Commission “to continue its work on all forms of atomic-energy weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or super bomb.” This is the first confirmation of US H-bomb work.

Feb. 1, 1950. The prototype of the MiG-17 (NATO reporting name “Fresco”) fighter makes its first flight at the Soviet flight test center at Zhukovsky. It is an aerodynamically refined version of the MiG-15 and fitted with an. The top scoring North Vietnamese ace, Colonel Toon (which some sources list as “Tomb”), records thirteen aerial victories while flying MiG-17s.

March 15, 1950. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a statement of basic roles and missions, give the Air Force formal and exclusive responsibility for strategic guided missiles.

April 21, 1950. Piloted by Lt. Cmdr. R.C. Starkey, a Lockheed P2V-3C Neptune weighing 74,668 pounds becomes the heaviest aircraft ever launched from an aircraft carrier. The Neptune is flown off USS Coral Sea (CV-43).

April 24, 1950. Thomas K. Finletter becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

June 3, 1950. Company pilot Oscar P. “Bud” Haas makes the first flight of the Republic XF-96A, the swept wing variant of the F-84 Thunderjet, at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft would later be christened Thunderstreak.

June 25, 1950. North Korea attacks South Korea to begin Korean War. The first Air Force aircraft destroyed in the conflict is a Douglas C-54 that is strafed on the ground at Kimpo AB, South Korea, by a pair of North Korean Yak fighter pilots. Read Editorial: Police Action
The Forgotten War
Air War Over Korea (expanded chronology)

June 27, 1950. President Truman announces he has ordered USAF and USN forces to aid South Korea, which has been invaded by North Korean Communist forces.

June 27, 1950. Flying a North American F-82 Twin Mustang, USAF Lt. William G. Hudson, with radar operator Lt. Carl Fraser, destroys a Yak-11 near Seoul.

June 28, 1950. USAF aircraft fly first strikes of the war, attacking tanks, trucks, and supply columns along the North Korean invasion route.

June 28, 1950. USAF Lt. Bryce Poe pilots an RF-80A on the first USAF combat jet reconnaissance sortie in Korea.

June 30, 1950. President Truman authorizes Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur to dispatch air forces against targets in North Korea.

July 3, 1950. Carrier aircraft go into action in Korea, with strikes in and around Pyongyang. Also Lt. (j.g.) L.H. Plog and Ens. E.W. Brown, piloting Grummand F9F Panthers, each down a Yak-9, the first US Navy victories in air combat in Korea.

July 10, 1950. Flying a North American T-6 Texan trainer armed with smoke rockets, Lts. James Bryant and Frank Mitchell, on the first day of “mosquito missions” (forward air control sorties) in Korea, call in a strike by F-80 pilots who destroy a column of North Korean tanks.

Aug. 5, 1950. USAF Maj. Louis J. Sebille continued to attack Communist troops in his damaged airplane until it crashed near Hamchang, Korea. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously. This is the first Air Force Medal of Honor awarded in the Korean War.
Read Valor: Epitaph for a Valiant Airman

Sept. 14, 1950. North Koreans push retreating UN forces into the “Pusan Perimeter” in Southeast Korea, marking the line of maximum advancement for the invaders. Airpower pounds North Korean supply lines, limiting the enemy force that can be brought to bear on Pusan.

Sept. 18, 1950. While it is significantly different enough to warrant a separate designation, the swept wing Republic F-96 Thunderstreak is redesignated F-84F. Air Force is having difficulty in securing funding from Congress for a new aircraft, and the service believes it will be easier to get appropriations to continue an “existing” program.

Sept. 22, 1950. Air Force Col. David C. Schilling makes the first nonstop trans–Atlantic flight in a jet aircraft, flying a Republic F-84E from Manston, England, to Limestone (later Loring) AFB, Maine, in 10 hours, one minute. The trip requires three in-flight refuelings.

Oct. 19–29, 1950. UN counteroffensive reaches its maximum line of advancement, stopping just short of the Yalu River near the Manchurian border.

Oct. 25, 1950. Communist China enters the Korean War.

Nov. 8, 1950. 1st Lt. Russell J. Brown, flying a Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, downs a North Korean MiG-15 in history’s first all-jet aerial combat.

Nov. 9, 1950. In the US Navy’s first jet-vs.-jet combat, Cmdr. W.T. Amend, flying a Grumman F9F-2 Panther, downs a MiG-15 over the Yalu River.

Dec. 4, 1950. When his wingman, Ensign Jesse Brown, crash lands at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, Navy Lt. (j.g.) Thomas Hudner makes a bold decision. He belly lands his Vought F4U-4 Corsair close to Brown to lend assistance. Hudner packs snow around the engine of Brown’s aircraft, trying to put out a smoldering fire, but to no avail. Marine 1st Lt. Charles Ward arrives in a Sikorsky HO3S helicopter with an axe to free, Brown who is pinned down , but it is of no use. In shock and suffering from hypothermia, Brown dies. Hudner is awarded the Medal of Honor.

Dec. 17, 1950. Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton, flying a North American F-86 Sabre, wins the first ever air-to-air combat between swept wing fighters when he shoots down a MiG-15 over Korea.

Dec. 25, 1950. Communist forces re-cross 38th parallel into South Korea.

1951

April 6, 1951. The Labor Department announces that employment in aircraft and parts plants increased by 100,000 people in the first six months of the Korean War.

May 20, 1951. Maj. James Jabara becomes the Air Force’s first Korean War ace. He eventually downs 15 enemy planes in Korea.

June 20, 1951. Company pilot Jean “Skip” Ziegler makes the first flight of the Bell X-5 at Edwards AFB, Calif. On July 27, Ziegler becomes the first pilot to complete the full conversion from 20-degree sweepback to 60-degree sweepback. It was the type’s ninth flight.

July 3, 1951. Despite bad weather and running out of daylight, Navy Lt. (j.g.) John Koelsch and aircrewman, AMM3C George Neal, attempt to rescue a downed Marine aviator, Capt. James Wilkins, in mountainous terrain deep in North Korea. Their Sikorsky HO3S helicopter is shot down by ground fire as they are pulling Wilkins up in the rescue hoist. The three Americans then evade capture for nine days and reach the Korean coast before capture. Suffering from dysentery and malnourished, Koelsch consistently refuses to cooperate with his captors. He dies in prison and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

July 6, 1951. In Korea, a Strategic Air Command crew, flying a Boeing KB-29M tanker conducts the first air refueling operations over enemy territory under combat conditions.

Aug. 18, 1951. Col. Keith Compton wins the first USAF jets-only Bendix Trophy transcontinental race, flying from Muroc Field, Calif., to Detroit in a North American F-86A Sabre with an average speed of 553.761 mph. Total flying time is three hours, 27 minutes.

Sept. 14, 1951. Flying a night intruder mission, Capt. John S. Walmsley Jr. attacks a North Korean supply train near Yangdok, North Korea. His bombs hit an ammunition car, and the train breaks in two. He then makes a strafing attack on the remaining cars, but his guns jam after the first pass. Using the newly installed searchlight in the Douglas B-26 Intruder’s nose, he lights the way for another pilot to finish off the train. Walmsley’s aircraft is hit by ground fire and crashes. He is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Read Valor: Experiment at Yangdok

Sept. 20, 1951. The Air Force makes the first successful recovery of animals from rocket flight when a monkey and 11 mice survive an Aerobee flight to 236,000 feet.

Oct. 2, 1951. Col. Francis S. Gabreski of the 51st Fighter Wing downs a MiG-15, which gives him 6.5 victories in Korea. Combined with his 28 victories in World War II, he is the highest scoring Air Force ace with victories in two wars. Read Gabreski

Nov. 30, 1951. Maj. George A. Davis Jr. becomes the first USAF ace of two wars—World War II (seven) and Korea (14).

1952

Feb. 1, 1952. The Air Force acquires its first general-purpose computer (a Univac I).

Feb. 10, 1952. Despite being outnumbered 12 to two, Maj. George A. Davis Jr. and his wingman in F-86s attack a formation of MiG-15s over the Sinuiju-Yalu River area of North Korea to protect a force of US fighter-bombers. Davis, who had recorded seven air-to-air victories in World War II and had added 14 more in Korea, shoots down two of the MiGs (although these would not be confirmed victories) before being shot down himself. His wingman manages to escape. For his unselfish action, Davis would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor. Read Valor: MiG Hunter

April 1, 1952. In a further change from practices carried over from when it was part of the Army, the Air Force redesignates the grades of private first class, corporal, and buck sergeant as airman third class, airman second class, and airman first class.

April 15, 1952. The Boeing YB-52 Stratofortress bomber prototype makes its maiden flight from its facility in Seattle, Wash. Company pilot A.M. “Tex” Johnston is at the controls. Read Fifty Years of the B-5

April 27, 1952. The Tupolev Model 88, the prototype of the Tu-16 jet bomber, makes its first flight. The Tu-16 (later given the NATO reporting name ‘Badger’) is the Soviet Union’s first strategic jet-powered bomber and is also the first with swept wings. Approximately 2,000 Tu-16s will be built in 25 versions and the type served well into the 1990s.

May 3, 1952. Air Force Lt. Cols. William Benedict and Joseph Fletcher land an LC-47 on the North Pole.

May 22, 1952. Two Philippine monkeys, Patricia and Mike, along with two white mice, Mildred and Albert, are carried to an altitude of 36 miles at a speed of 2,000 mph in the nosecone of an Aerobee rocket launched from Holloman AFB, N.M. This modern Noah’s ark is recovered by parachute. By measuring the effects of rapid acceleration and weightlessness on the animals, the flight provides valuable data for the later launching of humans in rockets.

May 29, 1952. The first combat use of air-to-air refueling of Air Force fighter airplanes takes place as 12 Republic F-84E Thunderjets flown by pilots from the 159th Fighter-Bomber Squadron are topped off on their way back from a bomb run against targets at Sariwon, North Korea. The F-84s are based at Itazuke AB, Japan. By July 4, three more of these Operation Rightside missions will be flown.

June 23–24, 1952. Combined air elements of the Air Force, Navy, and Marines virtually destroy the electrical power potential of North Korea. The two-day attack involves more than 1,200 sorties and is the largest single air effort since World War II and first to employ aircraft in Korea from all three services.

June 11, 1952. A Grumman SA-16 Albatross pilot lands in the shallow, debris filled Taedong River in Korea to rescue a downed F-51 pilot while the fighter pilot’s squadron mates beat off heavy enemy fire and illuminate the rescue with their landing lights.

July 13–31, 1952. Two Air Force crews, Capts. Vincent McGovern and Harry C. Jeffers and Capt. George O. Hembrick and Lt. Harold Moore, flying two Sikorsky H-19 helicopters named Hopalong and Whirl o Way, make the first crossing of the Atlantic by helicopter. The crews fly from Westover AFB, Mass., to Prestwick, Scotland, in five stages, covering 3,535 miles in 42 hours and 25 minutes of flight time.

July 14, 1952. The Ground Observer Corps begins its round-the-clock skywatch program as part of a nationwide air defense effort. Read The Ground Observer Corps

July 29, 1952. A North American RB-45C Tornado crew makes the first nonstop trans Pacific flight by a multi engine jet bomber. In flying the 3,640 miles from Alaska to Japan in nine hours and 50 minutes with the help of a KB-29 tanker, the crew of Maj. Louis H. Carrington Jr., Maj. Frederick W. Shook, and Capt. Wallace D. Yancy will later be awarded the Mackay Trophy.

Aug. 30, 1952. The Avro 698, prototype of the Royal Air Force’s Vulcan bomber, makes its first flight. The Vulcan is the world’s first delta-wing bomber.

Oct. 15, 1952. Company pilot William Bridgeman makes the first flight of the Douglas X-3 Stilleto research aircraft at Edwards AFB, Calif. Although it will never achieve its design goals, the X-3 does prove useful for developing titanium machining and construction techniques, and it will provide much design data for short span, low aspect ratio wing, high speed aircraft.

Oct. 31, 1952. The United States tests its first thermonuclear device at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. The device, code-named “Mike,” has a yield of 10.4 million tons of TNT, 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II.

Nov. 18, 1952. Capt. J. Slade Nash set new world air speed record of 698.505 mph n a F-86D over a three-kilometer course at the Salton Sea in California.

Nov. 22, 1952. While leading a flight of four Lockheed F-80s on a mission to dive bomb enemy gun positions that were harassing friendly ground troops near Sniper Ridge, North Korea, Maj. Charles J. Loring Jr.’s aircraft is hit repeatedly as he presses the attack on the enemy guns. His aircraft badly damaged, he turns and deliberately crashes into the gun positions, destroying them completely. For this selfless action, Loring is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Read Valor: Sacrifice at Sniper Ridge

Dec. 16, 1952. Tactical Air Command activates first Air Force helicopter squadron.

1953

Jan. 2, 1953. Cessna Aircraft is declared the winner of the Air Force’s primary jet trainer competition to build the T-37, beating out 14 entries.

Jan. 14, 1953. Capt. Joseph C. McConnell Jr., who would go on to become the leading American ace in Korea, records his first aerial victory, a MiG-15. Assigned to the 39th Fighter Squadron, he was flying a North American F-86 at the time.

Jan. 15, 1953. Capt. Lawrence A. Barrett and Lt. R. F. Sullivan fly their Sikorsky SH-19 helicopter more than 100 miles behind North Korean lines to rescue a downed F-51 pilot.

Jan. 26, 1953. Chance Vought Aircraft completes the last F4U Corsair. In production for 13 years (and built by two other manufacturers during World War II), almost 12,700 Corsairs were built in a number of versions, making for one of the longest and largest production runs in history.

Jan. 30, 1953. Capt. B. L. Fithian (pilot) and Lt. S. R. Lyons (radar operator) shoot down an unseen North Korean aircraft using only the radar (no visual sighting) in their Lockheed F-94 Starfire to guide them to the intercept. The target turns out to be a Lavochkin La-9 piston engined fighter.

Feb. 4, 1953. Harold E. Talbott becomes Secretary of the Air Force.
March 16, 1953. Republic delivers the 4,000th F-84 Thunderjet to the Air Force. The F-84 has been in production since 1946.

April 7, 1953. The Atomic Energy Commission reveals that it is using QF-80 drone aircraft at the Nevada Proving Ground. The drones are flown directly through atomic bomb blast clouds to collect samples for later examination.

May 12, 1953. Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson reveals that projected Air Force strength has been revised downward to 120 wings, instead of the 143 previously planned.

May 13 and 16, 1953. Air Force crews flying Republic F-84 Thunderjets conduct two raids on dams, causing the loss of all electrical power to North Korea.

May 18, 1953. Capt. Joseph C. McConnell Jr., flying an F-86, downs three MiG-15 fighters in two separate engagements. These victories give McConnell a total of 16 victories in just five months of action and make him the leading American ace of the Korean War.

May 25, 1953. Company pilot George S. “Wheaties” Welch makes the first flight of the North American YF-100 Super Sabre prototype at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. He exceeds Mach 1 on this first flight.

June 8, 1953. Officially activated June 1, 1953, USAF’s 3600th Air Demonstration Flight, the Thunderbirds, perform their first aerial demonstration. Flying Republic F-84G Thunderjets, the team flies the unofficial show at their home, Luke AFB, Ariz. (The first official demonstration was flown June 16, 1953, at Williams AFB, Ariz. The first civilian audience viewed a Thunderbirds show July 21, 1953, at Cheyenne, Wyo.)

June 16, 1953. North American delivers the 1,000th T-28 Trojan tandem-seat trainer to the Air Force.

June 30, 1953. Gen. Nathan F. Twining becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

July 16, 1953. Lt. Col. William Barnes pushes the recognized absolute speed record past 700 mph, as he hits 715.697 mph in a North American F-86D over the Salton Sea in California. This marks one of the first times an aircraft type has succeeded itself in setting a new world speed record.

July 20, 1953. The first Martin B-57A, the US built version of the English Electric Canberra medium bomber, is flown for the first time at the company’s Middle River, Md., plant.

July 27, 1953. Capt. Ralph S. Parr, a member of the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flying a North American F-86F, records the last aerial victory in the Korean War when he shoots down an Il-12 near Hoha-dong shortly after midnight. It was his 10th aerial victory.

July 27, 1953. UN and North Korea sign armistice agreement, producing cease fire in Korea. Read “ The Forgotten War: Korean War Air Operations Summary and Korean War Casualties,” Air Force Magazine, June 2000.

July 27, 1953. Twenty-four minutes before the cease fire took effect, lst Lt. Donald W. Mansfield (pilot), lst Lt. Billy Ralston, and A2C D.J. Judd, flying a Douglas B-26 Invader (the A-26 had been redesignated in 1948) dropped the last bombs of the war on a North Korean supply dump.

July 28, 1953. At Edwards AFB, Calif., company pilot William Bridgeman pilots the Douglas X-3 Stiletto to the highest speed this grossly underpowered research aircraft will reach, Mach 1.21—and this only comes after he put the aircraft in a shallow dive. The X-3 was designed to fly at sustained speeds above Mach 2 for longer than 30 minutes at high altitudes.

July 29, 1953. Two days after the armistice ending the Korean War, the Air Force announces that the Far East Air Forces shot down 839 MiG-15 jet fighters, probably destroyed 154 more, and damaged 919 others during the 37 months of war. United Nations air forces lost 110 aircraft in air-to-air combat, 677 to enemy ground fire, and 213 airplanes to “other causes.”

Aug. 20, 1953. Seventeen Republic F-84G Thunderjets, refueling from Boeing KC-97s, are flown nonstop 4,485 miles from Turner AFB, Ga., to RAF Lakenheath, UK, in what is, up to this point, the longest mass movement of fighter-bombers in history and the greatest distance ever flown by single engine jet fighters.

Aug. 21, 1953. Flying the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket, Marine Lt. Col. Marion Carl sets an altitude record of 83,235 feet after being dropped from a Boeing P2B (B-29) flying at 34,000 feet over Edwards AFB, Calif.

Sept. 1, 1953. The first jet-to-jet air refueling takes place between a Boeing KB-47 and a “standard” B-47.

Sept. 11, 1953. A Grumman F6F drone is destroyed in the first successful interception test of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile at China Lake, Calif.

Sept. 21, 1953. North Korean pilot Lt. Noh Kum Suk defects and flies his MiG-15 to Kimpo AB, South Korea. He is granted asylum and given $100,000.

Oct. 3, 1953. Lt. Cmdr. James B. Verdin establishes a world speed record of 752.943 mph in the Douglas XF4D Skyray over Muroc, Calif. This is the first carrier airplane to set the speed record in its normal combat configuration.

Oct. 19, 1953. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Roger Lewis reveals that Boeing B-52 bombers will cost approximately $3.6 million each in production, but the first four aircraft will cost about $20 million each to amortize the design, development, and tooling costs.

Oct. 24, 1953. Company pilot Richard L. Johnson makes the first flight of the Convair YF-102 prototype at Edwards AFB, Calif. Performance of this scaled-up version of the delta-wing XF-92A is found to be lacking, and the greatly redesigned YF-102A will fly in early 1954.

Oct. 29, 1953. Lt. Col. Frank K. Everest sets a new world speed record of 755.149 mph in the North American YF-100 prototype over the Salton Sea in California. He breaks the record set just a few weeks earlier by Lt. Cmdr. James B. Verdin.

Nov. 6, 1953. A Boeing B-47 Stratojet is flown from Limestone (later Loring) AFB, Maine, to RAF Brize Norton, UK, in four hours, 53 minutes to establish a new trans–Atlantic speed record from the continental US.

Nov. 20, 1953. NACA test pilot Scott Crossfield becomes the first pilot to exceed Mach 2. His Douglas D-588-II Skyrocket research airplane is dropped from a Navy P2B-1S (B-29) at an altitude of 32,000 feet over Edwards AFB, Calif.