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History Milestones
Monday, January 01, 1940 - Saturday, December 31, 1949
Feb 26, 1940
The Air Defense Command is created to integrate U.S. Army Air Force defenses against an air attack.
Apr 8, 1940
A B-18 made the first nonstop flight from Denver, Colo., to Miami, Fla.
Apr 14, 1940
The first Air Corps detachment assigned to an Alaskan station arrived at Fairbanks, Alaska.
May 16, 1940
President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked for the production of 50,000 planes a year.
May 23, 1940
During Third Army maneuvers at Barksdale Field, La., 320 Army aircraft demonstrated complete military maneuvers that simulated European combat operations.
May 29, 1940
The Vought F-4U Corsair first flew.
Jun 29, 1940
A program to build more than 12,000 airplanes by April 1, 1942 was approved as the Army's first aviation objective for training, organization and procurement.
Jul 16, 1940
First bombardment training in Air Corps Schools began at Lowry Field, Colo., with the first class of bombardier instructors.
Jul 22, 1940
Radar used for the first time in shooting down an enemy bomber.
Aug 19, 1940
North American B-25 Mitchel bomber first flew.
Sep 2, 1940
The U.S. agreed to trade 50 old destroyers to Great Britain for use against the German U-boats. In return, the U.S. received rights to air and naval bases at eight strategic points in the Atlantic and Caribbean area.
Sep 16, 1940
A War Department announcement said the Civil Aeronautics Administration would cooperate with the Army on the development of black aviation units.
Oct 8, 1940
The Royal Air Force formed Eagle Squadron, a Fighter Command unit composed of volunteer U.S. pilots. This group later became the U.S. 4th Fighter Group.
Oct 14, 1940
Maj. Reuben Moffat, 33rd Pursuit Group Commander, became the first U.S. Army Air Corps pilot to fly an aircraft off a carrier. He flew his Curtiss P-40 off the USS Wasp along with 24 other P-40s and nine North American O-47s to test deployment procedures off Virginia's coast.
Oct 30, 1940
The 71st Squadron Royal Air Force (1st Eagle Squadron with American volunteers) became operational.
Nov 25, 1940
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics announced plans to build an $8.4 million engine research laboratory at the Cleveland Municipal Airport in Ohio. It became the Lewis Research Center.
Jan 11, 1941
The U.S. Army Air Corps tested radio-controlled robot planes from the ground and from another plane.
Apr 1, 1941
The U.S. and Mexico signed an agreement providing for reciprocal transit of military aircraft through the territory of the two countries.
May 13, 1941
In a mass flight over the Pacific, 21 B-17s took off from Hamilton Field, Calif., and landed on May 14 at Hickam Field, Hawaii, 13 hours, 10 minutes later.
May 22, 1941
The Curtiss Hawk 87A Warhawk first flew.
May 31, 1941
Maj. Gen. George H. Brett appointed Chief of Air Corps.
Jun 3, 1941
The grade of aviation cadet was created.
Jun 16, 1941
Consolidated's B-24 Liberator entered the Air Corps inventory. It flew faster and farther than the B-17. More 18,000 B-24s entered the inventory.
Jul 1, 1941
The Air Corps Ferrying Command sent its first air transport flights from Bolling Field, D.C., to Scotland via Montreal and Newfoundland. Using modified B-24 Liberator bombers with seats in the bomb bay, the "Arnold Line" (after Gen. Henry H. Arnold) made six round trips to Scotland monthly. Lt. Col. Caleb V. Haynes flew the first flight.
Jul 19, 1941
Capt. Benjamin O. Davis reported to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama with 12 black aviation cadets to begin flight training.
Jul 31, 1941
The U.S. Army Air Force officially established Tuskegee Army Air Field.
Aug 12, 1941
Capt. Homer Boushey Jr. flew an Ercoupe civilian airplane on the first successful rocket assisted takeoff at Wright Field, Ohio.
Aug 18, 1941
President Roosevelt announced agreements to let Pan American Airways ferry warplanes from the U.S. to British forces in the Middle East via West Africa.
Sep 5, 1941
Nine B-17D Flying Fortresses began a mass transpacific flight from Hawaii to the Philippines. After flying through Midway, Wake, Port Moresby, and Darwin, Australia, the bombers landed at Clark Field, Philippines near Manila on Sept. 12.
Sep 17, 1941
During an Army tactical exercise in Louisiana, DC-3s dropped parachute troops for the first time.
Oct 30, 1941
Maj. Alva L. Harvey made a record global trip in a B-24, covering 24,700 miles in 48 days. In this flight, he also completed a 3,150-mile nonstop flight from Great Britain to carry members of the Harriman Mission to Moscow.
Nov 7, 1941
First flight of the GB-1 guided glide bomb containing preset guidance.
Nov 12, 1941
First launching of an experimental GB-8 glide bomb with radio controls.
Nov 14, 1941
The military air transport service linked Washington, D.C. with Cairo, Egypt, when Col. Caleb V. Haynes and Maj. Curtis E. LeMay flew Maj. Gen. George H. Brett, Chief of the Air Corps, in a B-24 on the first 26,000-mile round trip to Basra, Iraq.
Dec 1, 1941
The Civil Air Patrol is created.
Dec 7, 1941
The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
Dec 7, 1941
By the time of the surprise Pearl Harbor attack, the Air Corps Ferrying Command had delivered 1,350 planes from the factories to AAF airfields, but on the east coast.
Dec 8, 1941
Following their Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese attacked American installations in the Philippines. Japanese fighters destroyed more than 100 U.S. combat aircraft on the ground, including 17 B-17s and 55 P-40s, while killing 80 airmen and wounding another 150. Five U.S. pilots shot down seven Japanese planes.
Dec 8, 1941
The United States declares war on Japan.
Dec 10, 1941
Five B-17s from the 93rd Bombardment Squadron carried out the first heavy bombardment mission of World War II. They attacked a Japanese convoy as they landed troops on the northern coast of Luzon, Philippines.
Dec 11, 1941
Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
Dec 12, 1941
Maj. Gen. Herbert A. Dargue, a pioneer aviator died when his plane crashed into a Sierra Nevada mountain side near Bishop, Calif.
Dec 13, 1941
In an executive order, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the Secretary of War to take control of any civilian airline needed for the war effort. Contracts with the airlines permitted the purchase of aircraft and airline services.
Dec 18, 1941
Lt. "Buzz" Wagner became the first American ace of World War II, when he shot down his fifth Japanese plane over the Philippines in four days. He flew with the 17th Pursuit Squadron.
Jan 2, 1942
Gen. H.H. Arnold directed the establishment of a new numbered air force, later designated the 8th Air Force.
Jan 10, 1942
The Army Air Forces Materiel Center started investigating ways to use aerial refueling in the war against Japan.
Jan 13, 1942
The XR-4, the Army Air Force's first helicopter, made its initial flight.
Feb 23, 1942
Based on the Question Mark flight, the Materiel Division recommended the British looped-hose refueling system for American military inflight fuel transfers. Using this method, the receiver aircraft trailed a 300-foot line, with an attached three-pronged grapple, and positioned itself near the tanker, which trailed a 100-foot weighted line.
Mar 7, 1942
The first class of Tuskegee Airmen graduate from U.S. Army Air Force Tuskegee Army Air Field, Ala.
Apr 1, 1942
Air Corps Proving Ground became Proving Ground Command with its main base at Eglin Field, Fla.
Apr 2, 1942
Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton led three heavy bombers in the first Tenth Air Force combat mission to attack ships near Port Blair, Andaman Islands.
Apr 8, 1942
The Army began the largest airlift in World War II, using aircraft acquired from Pan American Airlines. Two DC-3's airlifted gasoline and lubricating oil over the Himalaya Mountains from Dinjan in eastern India to Yunnan-yi in southern China to begin the "Hump Airlift." A total of eight airplanes carried enough fuel and oil to refuel and service the B-25 bombers for the later "Doolittle Raid." From December 1942, when the airlift became the Air Transport Command's responsibility, through the close of the operation in November 1945, the airlift delivered nearly 740,000 tons of cargo.
Apr 11, 1942
The Curtiss-Wright Company unveiled its first production C-46 Commando. The C-46 eventually became the largest and heaviest twin-engined aircraft used by the Army Air Forces. Due to its load capacity and high altitude performance, the AAF primarily used it in the Pacific region and the Commando became an important factor in the success of the "Hump" airlift over the Himalayas.
Apr 12, 1942
Brig. Gen. Ralph Royce led three B-17s and 10 B-25s in an attack on Japanese shipping and installations in the Philippines. These planes based at Darwin, Australia, staged at Mindanao in the Philippines and returned to complete a 4,000-mile round trip.
Apr 18, 1942
In the early morning hours, 16 B-25B Mitchell bombers, led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, struck Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohama. "Doolittle's Raid" inflicted little physical damage to Japan, but it gave a needed lift to morale in the U.S. In Japan, the psychological damage of the attack was more important, and caused the Japanese to extend its defensive perimeter.
May 11, 1942
First contingent of U. S. Army Air Forces arrived in England to join Eighth Air Force.
May 13, 1942
The first U.S. bombardment squadron, the 15th, sent to England without aircraft. It flew the first U.S. Army Air Forces operations over Western Europe on July 4 against enemy airfields in the Netherlands.
May 15, 1942
Interceptor and pursuit organizations of the U.S. Army Air Force redesignated "fighter."
May 17, 1942
Igor I. Sikorsky and Les Morris flew the Sikorsky XR-4 to Wright Field, Ohio to deliver the Army's first helicopter.
May 18, 1942
The U.S. and Panama signed an agreement for defense sites in Panama that included several air bases.
May 30, 1942
The first Boeing B-17F was built.
Jun 3, 1942
The Battle of Midway occurred through June 6. Three U.S. carriers destroyed four Japanese carriers, while only losing one of their own. The Japanese also lost a heavy cruiser, 322 aircraft, and 5,000 men, including a host of skilled pilots. This defeat ended Japan's eastern offensive and marked a major turning point in the war. Seventh Air Force flew 55 B-17 sorties and four B-26 torpedo attacks, claiming 22 hits on ships and 10 Japanese fighters shot down. It lost two B-17s and two B-26s.
Jun 8, 1942
A presidential directive established the European Theater of Operations with Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney as commander.
Jun 12, 1942
Twelve B-24s raided oil refineries in Ploesti, Rumania, unsuccessfully. This was the first heavy bomber attack in Europe during World War II. Col. Harry A. Halverson led the raid from Fayid, Egypt.
Jun 17, 1942
U.S. Army Air Corps tow planes picked up their first gliders.
Jun 23, 1942
The first Bolero flight with seven P-38s and two B-17s left Presque Isle, Maine, for England to begin the buildup of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
Jul 7, 1942
Flying a Lockheed Vega A-29 Hudson, Lt. Harry J. Kane of the 396th Bombardment Squadron attacked and sank a German submarine off Cherry Point, N.C., to make the first sure "kill" off the Atlantic Coast of the U.S.
Aug 14, 1942
When Lt. Elza Shahn ferried his P-38 to England, he spotted a German FW-200 Condor near Iceland. These German long-range reconnaissance aircraft gathered data on weather and allied shipping to help U-boats attack ships in the Atlantic. Lt. Shahn shot the Condor down, becoming the first American Army pilot to shoot down a German plane in World War II.
Aug 17, 1942
Col. Frank A. Armstrong Jr., led 12 B-17s from the 97th Bomb Group against the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards in France. The raid, which was the first Eighth Air Force heavy bomber mission from the United Kingdom against Western Europe in World War II, demonstrated the feasibility of daylight bombing.
Aug 19, 1942
2nd Lt. Sam F. Junkin became the first active-duty American pilot to shoot down a German fighter over Europe while giving air support to a commando raid on Dieppe, France.
Aug 28, 1942
The War Department directed Air Training Command to provide aircraft and equipment to evacuate sick and wounded American servicemen and women throughout the world.
Sep 6, 1942
The VII Bomber Command lost its first aircraft in combat when two B-17s failed to return from a strike on the Avions Poetz aircraft plant at Meaulte, France.
Sep 10, 1942
The Secretary of War formed the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. Then in October, female pilots began ferrying aircraft from production sites to airfields in the U.S.
Sep 12, 1942
The 89th Attack Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group, dropped the first parachute-retarded bomb in World War II on Buna Airstrip, New Guinea.
Sep 12, 1942
The Army Air Forces activated the 4th Fighter Group at Bushey Hall, England, to escort Eighth Air Force heavy bomber missions over occupied Europe. Three Royal Air Force Eagle Squadrons, with American volunteers, then transferred from the Royal Air Force on Sept. 29 to the VIII Fighter Command to man the group.
Sep 15, 1942
Using Fifth Air Force transports, the 126th Infantry Regiment became the first U.S. infantry unit to reach Seven Mile Airborne, near Port Moresby, New Guinea.
Sep 21, 1942
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress made its first flight.
Oct 25, 1942
American bombers raided Hong Kong and damaged the Kowloon Docks in the first raid on the former British colony since the Japanese occupation.
Nov 8, 1942
Army and carrier-based airplanes supported the invasion of North Africa, and American troops landed on French-held territory lasting through Nov. 11. Col. Demas T. Craw of XII Tactical Air Command volunteered to negotiate an armistice between the U.S. and French. On the way to the negotiations, he was killed by machine gun fire. Maj Pierpont M. Hamilton, who accompanied Col. Craw, was captured but completed the mission. For their actions, both men were awarded the Medal of Honor.
Nov 8, 1942
The invasion of North Africa began with amphibious landings in Morocco and Algeria during Operation Torch. Twelfth Air Force used C-47s from the 60th Troop-Carrier Group to carry troops and spitfire fighters from the 31st Fighter Group to support the operation.
Nov 12, 1942
Under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, Ninth Air Force started combat operations in Egypt to support British efforts in North Africa.
Nov 15, 1942
Lts. Harold Comstock and Roger Dyar set a new speed record for planes when their P-47s power-dived at 725 mph from 35,000 feet over an east coast base.
Nov 15, 1942
The U. S. Army Air Forces designated the first women's Flying Training Detachment at the Huston Municipal Airport as the 319th Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment.
Nov 28, 1942
The 7th Bomb Group sent nine B-24s on a 2,760-mile round trip from Gaya, India, to bomb Bangkok in the first U.S. Army Air Forces attack on Japanese-held Thailand.
Nov 29, 1942
Forty-four C-47s of the 62nd and 64th Troop-Carrier Groups from Twelfth Air Force dropped 530 British paratroopers near Tunis in an attempt to capture Oudna Airbase. The attempt failed due to German counterattacks.
Dec 1, 1942
Air Transport Command activated the India-China Division to provide airlift support to the Chunking government and American Airmen fighting in China. The airlift from bases in India over an air route through the Himalayan Mountains, called the "Hump," became the greatest sustained and intensive use of air transport to that date.
Dec 4, 1942
Ninth Air Force sent 24 B-24s to attack ships at the Naples docks in the first U.S. Army Air Forces air strike against mainland Italy in World War II.
Dec 15, 1942
Nine B-24s from the 376th Bomb Group bombed Sfax to open Ninth Air Force's campaign against Tunisian ports.
Dec 22, 1942
The 307th Bomb Group sent 26 B-24s on the first full-scale air attack against an enemy base in the Central Pacific. They staged through Midway to bomb Wake Island.
Dec 27, 1942
Flying his P-38 Lightning against the Japanese in the Pacific, 2nd Lt. Richard I. Bong scored his first two aerial victories. He later became the top ace in the war.
Dec 29, 1942
The U.S. Army Air Forces and private airlines of the nation jointly received the Collier Trophy.
Jan 14, 1943
Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker promoted a daylight-bombing offensive for U.S. Forces.
Jan 27, 1943
Eighth Air Force's 1st and 2d Bombardment Wings conducted the first American bombing mission against Germany.
Jan 29, 1943
Eighth Air Force dispatched 86 bombers to Frankfurt, Germany. One formation bombed Ludwigshaven instead due to a navigational error. Three bombers and 16 fighters were lost.
Feb 1, 1943
The U.S. Navy rescued Brig. Gen. Nathan F. Twining, the 13th Air Force Commander and 14 others near New Hebrides Islands. They ditched their plane on the way from Guadalcanal to Espiritu Santo and spent six days in life rafts.
Feb 3, 1943
The North American P-51A Mustang first flew.
Feb 16, 1943
B-17s and B-24s attacked St. Nazaire, France. Eight aircraft were lost and 30 damaged.
Feb 18, 1943
The first class of 39 flight nurses graduated from the U.S. Army Air Force School of Air Evacuations at Bowman Field, Ky.
Feb 27, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent B-17s and B-24s to attack the harbor and naval facilities at Brest, France.
Apr 8, 1943
A P-47 Thunderbolt flew its first combat sortie over Western Europe.
Apr 14, 1943
A P-47 Thunderbolt shot down an enemy aircraft, the first kill over Europe. The aircraft was assigned to the 4th Fighter Group at Seymour-Johnson AFB, S.C.
Apr 17, 1943
Eighth Air Force made its first 100-plane attack on a single target at Bremen, Germany.
Apr 18, 1943
1st. Lt. Rex T. Barber and Capt. Thomas G. Lamphier Jr, two P-38 pilots from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, intercepted and shot down two Mitsubishi "Betty" bombers near Bougainville. Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the Pearl Harbor attack, died in the aerial attack.
Apr 20, 1943
Staging from Funafuti in Ellice Islands, Seventh Air Force B-24s attacked Tarawa for the first time.
Apr 22, 1943
Lt. John S. Stewart, 76th Fighter Squadron, and Lt. Chin Hao, Chinese Air Force, flew a reconnaissance mission over Lashio, Burma. This flight was one of the first missions involving both Chinese and American personnel.
Apr 24, 1943
The first class of women pilots graduated from U.S. Army Air Force flight training.
May 1, 1943
Sgt. Maynard H. Smith as gunner, came under intense enemy fire while returning from a mission to enemy-occupied Europe. Sgt. Smith, on first mission, elected to fight a fire, administer first aid, man the waist guns, and fight intense flames alternately. For his actions, Sgt. Smith received the Medal of Honor.
May 3, 1943
Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews, Commanding General, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, died in an air crash in Iceland.
Jun 10, 1943
The U.S. Army Air Forces and British Royal Air Force initiated the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany. In that offensive, Eighth Air Force attacked enemy industrial targets by day, while the RAF hit enemy cities by night.
Jun 13, 1943
Eighth Air Force lost 26 of 60 bombers in a raid on Kiel, Germany. That mission demonstrated the need for fighter escorts.
Jun 17, 1943
Tinfoil strips (chaff) were used to confuse German radar so American bombers could strike targets during Project Window.
Jun 22, 1943
Eighth Air Force bombed Germany's Ruhr industrial area for the first time, hitting the chemical works and synthetic rubber at Huls so severely that it could not resume full production for six months.
Jun 24, 1943
Lt. Col. W.R. Lovelace made a record parachute jump from 42,200 feet.
Jun 25, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent B-17s to attack enemy convoys off Wangerooge and Juist Islands in the North Sea.
Jul 2, 1943
Lt. Charles Hall, 99th Fighter Squadron, became the first U.S. African American pilot to shoot down an Axis plane, a German Focke-Wulf 190 over Sicily, Italy.
Jul 8, 1943
Col. M.G. Grow, 8th Air Force surgeon, received the Legion of Merit for developing the flak vest.
Jul 10, 1943
Allied airborne troops landed at Gela and Syracuse, Sicily, in the first large-scale airborne operation attempted by the allies in World War II.
Jul 19, 1943
In the first raid on Rome, 700 B-17s and B-24s dropped 800 tons of bombs.
Jul 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.
Jul 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.
Jul 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.
Jul 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")
Aug 1, 1943
During Operation Tidal Wave, 177 B-24 Liberators used low-level routes to drop 311 tons of bombs on the Ploesti Oil Refinery in Romania. This was the first large-scale, minimum-altitude attack against a strongly defended target, and the longest major bombing mission from base to target undertaken to date.
Aug 1, 1943
During the Ploesti raid, the lead aircraft flown by Lt. Col. Addison Baker, the 93rd Bomb Group Commander, received serious damage and caught fire. Col. Baker continued to lead the formation and dropped his bombs before trying to gain enough altitude for the crew to parachute. The attempt failed and the B-24 crashed. For gallant leadership and intrepidity, Col. Baker received the Medal of Honor. In this raid, Col. Leon W. Johnson, Col. John R. Kane, and Maj. John L. Jerstad also received Medals of Honor. The Eighth lost 54 bombers, but successfully reduced Ploesti's refining capacity by 40 percent.
Aug 17, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent more than 300 B-17s on its first raid against German ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt and the aircraft plants at Regensburg. The mission suffered heavy losses as 60 bombers fell, mostly to enemy fighters. Military leaders reexamined the heavy bomber's ability to protect itself and delayed the next mission until Sept. 6. It was also the first shuttle operation in the European theater.
Aug 17, 1943
Air Training Command used a C-87 Liberator to carry Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt on a tour of the Pacific theater to boost morale, inspect Red Cross installations, and learn how women from Australia and New Zealand supported the war.
Aug 25, 1943
Twelfth Air Force sent 140 P-38s from the 1st Fighter Group and 82nd Fighter Group on the first mass, low-level long-range strafing raid in World War II. Flying from airfields in Sicily, the P-38s flew tree-top level to attack airfields at Foggia, where they claimed 143 planes destroyed or damaged.
Aug 26, 1943
The U.S. Army Air Forces used a new type of perspective maps with targets drawn as seen from the air to improve high altitude precision bombing abilities.
Aug 27, 1943
Ten SB-24's "Snoopers," with special radar sighting devices to make accurate bombings possible, irrespective of visual sightings, began operations from Carney Field, Guadalcanal.
Aug 28, 1943
The 482nd Bomb Group, equipped with Oboe, H2S and H2X blind bombing equipment, became the first radar-equipped Pathfinder unit in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Sep 6, 1943
P-47s escorted a B-17 attack on an aircraft and bearing factory in Stuttgart, Germany. Bad weather frustrated the original target plans, so the bombers turned to targets of opportunity in Germany and France. This proved disastrous as enemy fighters claimed 45 bombers.
Sep 13, 1943
The 52nd Tactical Carrier Wing used more than 80 troop transports to drop 1,200 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division on Italy's Salerno Beach, with no losses of planes or men. This effort was one of the most successful allied airborne operations in the war.
Sep 22, 1943
Due to heavy losses in daylight raids, Eighth Air Force B-17s flew in a night raid on Germany with the Royal Air Force for the first time.
Sep 27, 1943
Eighth Air Force B-17s attacked targets in Emden, Germany, with nearly 1,000 tons of bombs, the heaviest assault on a single target to date in World War II. A P-47 fighter escort with belly tanks also set a distance record by flying more than 600 miles on the mission.
Oct 7, 1943
The 422nd Bomb Squadron dispatched four aircraft on a leaflet-dropping mission over Paris to begin special operations from the United Kingdom.10
Oct 10, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent 313 heavy bombers to attack Munster, Germany, where 33 aircraft were destroyed and 102 damaged.
Oct 14, 1943
Eighth Air Force struck the heart of the German ball-bearing industry at Schweinfurt, Germany, for the second time, but 67 of 291 B-17s were lost. This mission caused the Eighth to suspend daylight bombing missions to targets deep inside Germany.
Oct 16, 1943
Lockheed received a contract to produce the XP-80 Shooting Star, the first true American jet-propelled fighter.
Oct 22, 1943
Maj. R. C. Heffner earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for establishing air routes across Africa and the Middle East.
Nov 2, 1943
During the first 15th Air Force mission, 74 B-17s and 38 B-24s flew 1,600 round-trip miles to bomb aircraft factories near Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Nov 3, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent 500 bombers on a daylight raid that devastated Wihelmshafen Harbor in Germany.
Nov 5, 1943
The 56th Fighter Group (P-47s) became the first Eighth Air Force fighter group credited with 100 enemy aircraft destroyed.
Nov 13, 1943
Allied planes carried out the heaviest raid against New Guinea when 57 B-24s and 62 B-25s bombed Alexishafen and Madang airdromes.
Nov 14, 1943
Ninety B-25s from Twelfth Air Force carried out the first U.S. Army Air Forces raid on Bulgaria. The aircraft dropped 135 tons of bombs on Sofia.
Nov 25, 1943
P-47 Thunderbolts from VIII Fighter Command inaugurated bombing in an attack on Saint-Omer Airfield, France.
Nov 25, 1943
From bases in China, B-25s, P-38s, and P-51s completed the first Fourteenth Air Force mission against Formosa.
Nov 26, 1943
When a B-17 suffered an engine failure on the way to the target in Germany, enemy fighters repeatedly attacked the aircraft. Tech. Sgt. Maurice V. Henry manned his guns, destroying one and damaging another. Then an incendiary shell hit the aircraft, and Sergeant Henry put out the fire. Later, when the B-17 crashed in the English Channel, he helped the other crewmen from the sinking craft with utter disregard for his own safety. When he was last seen, he was still grasping the emergency radio, calling for rescue. For his courage, Sergeant Henry received the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously.
Nov 29, 1943
Twelfth Air Force sent 25 B-25s to bomb military installations and rail facilities in the first American raid on Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Dec 2, 1943
The Combined Chiefs of Staff asked the Allied Expeditionary Air Force to attack "ski sites" in the Pas de Calais and Cherbourg Peninsula areas of France. These areas were identified as V-1 missile launching sites.
Dec 5, 1943
Ninth Air Force pilots from the 354th Fighter Group flew P-51s into combat for the first time. They escorted Eighth Air Force bombers 490 miles to targets in northern Germany. The presence of escort fighters reduced bomber losses significantly.
Dec 13, 1943
Under perfect conditions for radar bombing (interpreted as bad weather), 710 bombers from Eighth Air Force attacked Kiel, Germany.
Dec 17, 1943
Orville Wright presented the Collier Trophy to his former pupil, Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Forces, for outstanding achievement in aviation in 1942.
Dec 20, 1943
On a mission to Bremen, Germany, radio operator, Tech. Sgt. Forest Vosler showed unusual courage, when his B-17 sustained flak damage and hits from enemy aircraft. He received wounds in his legs, but still fired his gun at the attackers. Then another shell exploded near him, lodging splinters in his chest, head, and both eyes. He refused first aid and, between lapses of consciousness, repaired a damaged radio by touch. When the plane ditched in water, Sergeant. Vosler scrambled out on the wing unaided and held another badly wounded man until others could help them into a dingy. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Dec 24, 1943
Eighth Air Force sent 670 B-17s and B-24s to make the first major assault on German V-weapon sites at Pas de Calais.
Dec 26, 1943
The preinvasion bombing of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, destroyed all enemy defenses. Afterwards, Fifth Air Force described the complete destruction of a target as "Gloucesterizing."
Dec 28, 1943
VIII Bomber Command formed a "Radio Countermeasure Unit," with 24 specially-equipped heavy bombers to support bombing missions.
Jan 1, 1944
U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe is activated.
Jan 6, 1944
Maj. Gen. James Doolittle assumed command of the 8th Air Force.
Jan 11, 1944
Lt. Col. James H. Howard led a P-51 fighter escort group in a bombing mission to Oschersleben, Germany attacking 30 enemy planes, destroying three and damaging several others. Even when his fuel tanks neared empty, Colonel Howard continued to protect the bombers.
Jan 24, 1944
Twelfth Air Force provided air cover for Allied units landing on Anzio beach in Italy. U.S. control of the air played a major role in defending the beachhead.
Jan 29, 1944
During the largest U.S. air operation to date, Eighth Air Force dispatched 809 heavy bombers to drop 1,886 tons of bombs on Frankfurt and Ludwigshaven, Germany.
Feb 2, 1944
Stalin approved U.S. use of Soviet bases for "shuttle raids" against Germany. The operation allowed bombers based in the west to attack German targets beyond the point of safe return and then recover in the Soviet Union. To support those operations, Air Tactical Command aircraft flew round-trip missions between Tehran, Iran to bases near Kiev, Ukraine.
Feb 3, 1944
Col. Philip Cockran led five P-51s on the first air commando attack on Japanese forces in the Chinese-Burma-India theater.
Feb 3, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent 1,200 B-17s, B-24s and escort fighters to raid Emden and Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Feb 7, 1944
The "Luftwaffe Stomp" became a popular combat maneuver for U.S. fighter pilots to evade the enemy. It involved stalling the aircraft and turning it at the same time to come out on the tail of a German fighter, and thus gain an advantage.
Feb 9, 1944
More than 250 bombers and fighters, one of the largest forces to operate from Allied bases in the Solomon Islands to date, raided Rabaul, New Britain.
Feb 11, 1944
Eighth Air Force conducted a radar bombing attack on important German chemical plants.
Feb 15, 1944
Twelfth Air Force sent 254 B-17s and B-25 bombers to attack and destroy the Abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy. The U.S. Fifth Army did not take the ruins until May 18, which allowed the U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies to advance on Rome.
Feb 20, 1944
On an Eighth Air Force mission to Leipzig, Germany, Sgt. Archibald Mathies, as the engineer and ball turret gunner on a B-17, and other crewmen were attacked by enemy and still managed to fly to their home base at Glatton, England. Sergeant Mathies and the navigator volunteered to attempt a landing after the other crewmen jumped to safety. The commanding officer ordered them to parachute, but both men refused to desert the badly wounded pilot, who could not jump. They crashed on their third attempted landing, and all died. Sergeant Mathies, lst Lt. William R. Lawley and 2nd Lt. Walter E. Truemper, received the Medal of Honor for separate actions.
Feb 20, 1944
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces began "Big Week" air raids through Feb. 25, on German aircraft production to reduce the Luftwaffe threat. The use of fighter escorts lowered the bomber losses to six percent.
Feb 25, 1944
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces bombed German aircraft factories in Southern Germany. The Fifteenth launched 400 bombers, including 176 to Regensberg to end "Big Week."
Feb 29, 1944
Fifth Air Force bombers put both Japanese air bases at Alexishafen, New Guinea, out of operation. This command also supported the first landing made in the Admiralty Islands to complete the isolation of Rabaul.
Apr 2, 1944
The XX Bomber Command's first B-29 landed in India.
Apr 4, 1944
Fifteenth Air Force conducted the first American bombing raid on Bucharest, Rumania.
Apr 8, 1944
By sending 163 B-26s and 105 P-47s against enemy facilities at Hasselt, Belgium, Ninth Air Force conducted one of the largest tactical raids of World War II.
Apr 9, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent 542 bombers with 719 fighter escorts from VIII and IX Fighter Commands, against German and Polish targets. The mission lost 32 bombers and 10 fighters, while three B-17s were interned in Sweden.
Apr 11, 1944
Lt. Edward Michael received the Medal of Honor after cannon shells riddled his B-17 Flying Fortress wounding most of the crew. As the crew left the plane, he noticed that the bombardier's parachute was badly damaged. He decided to try crash landing. He evaded German fighters before taking the crippled plane down to 100 feet above the ground and amazingly flew across the English Channel to a base. With the wheels and flaps inoperable, and the B-17's bomb bay doors jammed open, the seriously wounded Lt. Michael still had enough strength left to skillfully land the bomber on its belly.
Apr 25, 1944
Seventh Air Force B-24s made the first land plane attack on Guam from Eniwetok, while Navy PBY's flew photo reconnaissance missions.
Apr 25, 1944
Flying a Sikorsky YR-4 helicopter, Lt. Carter Harman, 1st Air Commando Group, rescued four men from the jungle in Burma. That rescue was the first combat rescue by helicopters in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
May 31, 1944
The experimental VB-7 vertical bomb, with television sighting, was launched for the first time.
Jun 2, 1944
The first shuttle-bombing mission using Soviet bases to attack Eastern European targets occurred during Operation Frantic. The bombers took off from Italy and landed at Poltava, Soviet Union, after bombing Debrecen, Hungary. Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, head of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, flew in one of the B-17s.
Jun 5, 1944
The IX Troop Carrier Command used 1,400 C-47s, C-53s and gliders carrying artillery weapons through June 6, to drop 13,000 Allied paratroopers on Normandy, France during Operation Overlord or D-Day.
Jun 6, 1944
American and Allied aircraft flew 15,000 interdiction, close air support, and airlift sorties in support of the D-Day invasion.
Jun 7, 1944
Transport aircraft dropped 356 tons of supplies to Allied forces during Operation Overlord.
Jun 15, 1944
Brig. Gen. LaVerne G. Saunders, XX Bomber Command, led the first B-29 strike against Japan. In that raid, 47 B-29s flew from bases in Chengtu, China, to attack steel mills at Yawata on Kyushu.
Jun 19, 1944
American pilots shot down 476 Japanese aircraft in a battle known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot" through June 20. The U.S. lost 130 planes. Navy submarines and aircraft also sank three Japanese carriers. Afterwards, Japanese naval airpower was not a serious threat to U.S. forces in the Pacific.
Jun 22, 1944
The 318th Fighter Group, Seventh Air Force, pioneered the use of napalm fire bombs during the June 22-29 fight for Saipan.
Jun 22, 1944
After the second raid during Operation Frantic, the Luftwaffe attacked the B-17s at Poltava, destroying 47 and damaging 19 more.
Jun 23, 1944
While escorting B-17s on a raid to Ploesti, the 52nd Fighter Group downed 12 enemy aircraft. This gave the unit 102 aerial victories in 30 days for a record that was never equaled by another group in Europe.
Jun 23, 1944
2nd Lt. David R. Kingsley, 97th Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, received a Medal of Honor for putting his own parachute on his wounded tail-gunner (whose chute had been damaged). Lt. Kingsley was directly responsible for saving the life of the wounded gunner by sacrificing his own.
Jun 27, 1944
American bombers left Russian bases with an escort of P-51 Mustangs and attacked oil production plants in Poland before flying on to Italy.
Jul 2, 1944
Using Fifth Air Force air support, the 158th Regimental Combat Team (Task Force Cyclone) landed on Noemfoor Island, Schouten Islands, off the north coast of Dutch New Guinea. The Royal Air Force's Number Two Works Wing started construction on Kamiri airstrip at once. The next day, 54th Troop Carrier Wing C-47s dropped the 1st Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment over the airfield. Infantry from the 158th Royal Construction Team secured Kornasoren Airfield on July 4. The airdrome at Kamiri received its first fighter group on July 16, the Kornasoren field on July 25.
Jul 8, 1944
Lt. Col. Clifford Heflin flew his C-47 on the first mission into France to rescue airmen who had parachuted behind enemy lines.
Jul 9, 1944
During an attack on Ploesti oil refineries in Romania, Lt. Donald D. Pucket's B-24 received heavy and direct hits. He turned over controls of his bomber to the copilot to administer first aid and survey the damage. Although he jettisoned all the guns and equipment possible, the plane continued to lose altitude. Lieutenant Pucket ordered his crew to abandon ship, but three men refused. Therefore, he tried to control the plane. A few moments later, the flaming bomber crashed on a mountainside. For his courage and supreme sacrifice, Lieutenant Pucket received the Medal of Honor.
Jul 12, 1944
The U.S. Tactical Force launched Operation Mallery Major in perfect weather to destroy bridges over the Po River on the Italian front.
Jul 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.
Jul 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.
Aug 4, 1944
Eighth Air Force launched radio-controlled B-17 drones, carrying 20,000 pounds of TNT, against V-1 rocket sites in Pas de Calais, France during Operation Aphrodite.
Aug 5, 1944
During the first attack against the Philippines, night raids began when the 63rd Bombardment Squadron from Fifth Air Force launched a single radar-equipped B-24 Snooper. It conducted an ineffective attack on the Sasa airdrome, north of Davao, Mindanao.
Aug 9, 1944
While leading 33 B-26 Marauders from the 394th Bomb Group against a railroad bridge on the Seine River in France, Capt. Darrell R. Lindsey's right engine received a direct hit and caught on fire. Even though his fuel tanks could explode at any moment Captain Lindsey decided to lead the bomb run to excellent results. After delivering the bombs, he ordered the crew to bail out. Before he jumped, the bombardier offered to lower the aircraft's wheels so the pilot could escape, but he refused. The fuel tanks exploded before Captain Lindsey could leave the controls and the plane plummeted to the ground. For his courage he was given the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Aug 11, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent 956 heavy bombers, escorted by 578 fighters, to attack transportation facilities and military targets in eastern France.
Aug 15, 1944
In the greatest one-day effort in the Mediterranean to date, Allied Air Forces flew 4,249 sorties and landed 9,000 airborne troops in Southern France.
Aug 21, 1944
The F-8F Bearcat first flew
Aug 26, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent 997 heavy bombers and 897 fighters against targets in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany; 13 bombers and 13 fighters were lost, while 148 bombers and 15 fighters sustained damage.
Aug 28, 1944
Maj. Joseph Myers and 2nd Lt. Manford O. Croy Jr., from Eighth Air Force shared an aerial victory for a Me-262, the first jet to be downed in combat. Maj. Myers was leading eight P-47s flying top cover at 11,000 feet in the vicinity of Termonde, near Brussels, Belgium, when he saw an aircraft flying low and extremely fast. Maj. Myers and Lt. Croy then made a 45-degree dive and caught up with the twin-engine Me262. Before they could fire on the jet, the German pilot scuttled the aircraft in an open field. He fled on foot, but was killed by other P-47s as they strafed the wreck to destroy it. Both Maj. Myers and Lt. Croy received half credit for an aerial victory.
Sep 1, 1944
Fifth Air Force sent 55 B-24s to bomb dispersal areas at three airfields near Davao, Mindanao Island in the Philippines. Two of the Liberators were shot down by antiaircraft fire, while antiaircraft fire or interceptors damaged several others. Strike photographs revealed the destruction of 22 Japanese aircraft on the ground.
Sep 5, 1944
Capt. William H. Allen of the 55th Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, became an ace in one P-51 mission by scoring five aerial victories in just a few minutes. Flying with another ace, Capt. William H. Lewis, Capt. Allen's flight encountered and shot down 16 German fighters. Between Sept. 3 - 11, the 55th shot down 106 enemy fighters to earn a Distinguished Unit Citation.
Sep 8, 1944
The allies issued the "Joint British-American Directives on Day Bombing Operations Involving Fighter Cooperation." This plan formed the blueprint for the 24-hour bombing of Germany.
Sep 10, 1944
More than 1,000 Eighth Air Force bombers, escorted by hundreds of fighters, raided aircraft factories, motor transport parks, engine plants, a jet engine plant and German airfields.
Sep 11, 1944
Eighth Air Force began the last "shuttle raid" as 139 aircraft attacked an arms factory at Chemnitz, Germany and flew on to bases in Russia.
Sep 13, 1944
Eighth Air Force bombed Hungary's Diosgyoer Steel Works.
Sep 14, 1944
Col. Floyd B. Wood, Maj Harry Wexler, and Lt. Frank Recford made the first flight into a hurricane to collect scientific data in a Douglas A-20.
Sep 16, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent seven fighter groups, four carrying bombs, to strafe German targets in Hannover, Bremen, Onasbruck and bomb Ahlhorn Airfield, Mannheim and Kaiserslautern.
Sep 17, 1944
During Operation Market Garden, 1,546 allied planes and 478 gliders carried 35,000 troops for an airborne assault between Eindhoven and Arnhem in Holland to secure the Rhine.
Sep 23, 1944
Twenty-four B-25s from the 340th Bomb Group, Twelfth Air Force, bombed and sank the light cruiser Taranto in La Spezia Harbor, Italy.
Oct 2, 1944
1st Lt. Valmore Beaudrault received credit for downing the first German jet destroyed by Ninth Air Force.
Oct 12, 1944
Lt. Chuck Yeager shot down five of his 12 1/2 aircraft victories in a single engagement.
Oct 20, 1944
Southwest Pacific Area forces landed unopposed at two points on the east coast of Leyte, at Tacloban, the provincial capital and 20 miles to the south near Dulag. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, accompanied by President Sergio Osmena, landed in the 24th Infantry Division area early in the afternoon and delivered his "I have returned" liberation speech. Ground elements of the 308th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) were the first major Far East Air Forces units in country. Headquarters elements of Fifth Air Force landed on Oct. 22, while ground echelons of the 49th Fighter Group and 475th Fighter Group landed on Oct. 24.
Oct 22, 1944
P-38s of the 12th Fighter Squadron flew the first tactical napalm mission in the Southwest Pacific Area, dropping 75-gallon belly tanks of napalm on oil storage tanks at Boela, Ceram, Netherlands East Indies. The squadron, assigned to the 18th Fighter Group, XIII Fighter Command, was operating from Sansapor, Dutch New Guinea.
Oct 24, 1944
Eighth Air Force sent 415 P-47s and P-51s to carry out fighter-bomber raids in the Hannover-Kassel area of Germany. Nine fighters were destroyed.
Oct 27, 1944
The first U.S. Army aircraft to be stationed in the Philippines since 1942 landed on the Tacloban airstrip. The 34 P-38s of the 9th Fighter Squadron refueled at once, and before the end of the day shot down four enemy aircraft.
Oct 27, 1944
The Japanese flew almost 1,050 sorties over Leyte lasting between Oct. 27 and Dec. 31. Pilots from the V Fighter Command shot down 314 confirmed aircraft and received credit for 45 probables, yet suffered only 16 losses. On Oct. 29, the 49th Fighter Group scored its 500th victory.
Nov 1, 1944
A Boeing F-13, a photoreconnaissance version of the B-29, became the first U.S. plane to fly over Tokyo since April 1942
Nov 2, 1944
While on a mission over Merseberg, Germany, a bomber sustained three hits from anti-aircraft shells. A severely wounded navigator, Lt. Robert E. Femoyer, refused morphine to keep his head clear so he could direct his plane out of danger. For two and a half hours, he navigated his lone bomber away from flak. Only when he reached the English Channel did he agree to take a sedative. He died after the plane landed in England. For his sacrifice, Lt. Femoyer received the Medal of Honor.
Nov 4, 1944
More than 1,100 American B-17s and B-24s attacked Germany during the day, hitting targets near Hamburg, Hannover and Saarbruecken.
Nov 5, 1944
B-29s attacked Singapore in its first bombing since the Japanese captured it in February 1942
Nov 9, 1944
1st Lt. Donald J. Gott and 2nd Lt. William E. Metzger's B-17 received several bad flak hits while flying in a group formation. With only one engine operable, the pilots jettisoned the bombs and made for Allied territory. The rest of the crew parachuted, leaving the pilots and the radio operator, who was too injured to jump, to try a crash landing. As Lt. Gott banked into a final landing approach at about 100 feet, the fire from three engines reached the fuel tank and the bomber exploded and crashed, killing all three occupants. Lts. Gott and Metzger received Medals of Honor for their actions.
Nov 10, 1944
Thirty-six B-25s from Fifth Air Force attacked a Japanese convoy near Ormoc Bay, Leyte and sank three ships.
Nov 12, 1944
The largest air and ground cooperative effort to date occurred as over 4,000 Allied planes dropped more than 10,000 tons of bombs on enemy target.
Nov 16, 1944
In the largest air and ground cooperation to date, more than 4,000 allied planes, with 750 fighter escorts, dropped over 10,000 tons of bombs in front of the 1st and 9th Armies to prepare for a ground attack.
Nov 18, 1944
Fifteenth Air Force sent 680 heavy bombers to oil refineries in Austria and Italian airfields at Aviano Villafranca di Verona, Udine and Vicenza, with 186 P-51s providing air cover over Italy.
Nov 22, 1944
Japanese aircraft staged through bases on Halmahera Island and attacked Far East Air Forces installations on Morotai. The raid resulted in two killed and 15 injured with 15 aircraft destroyed and eight damaged. This attack was one of 82 conducted against the Morotai bases between Sept. 15 and Feb. 1, 1945.
Nov 24, 1944
From the Marianas, 88 B-29s flew the first very heavy bomb strike from the Marianas Islands on Tokyo and the Japanese home islands. The XXI Bomber Command, under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Haywood S. Hansell Jr., conducted this attack as its first mission.
Dec 5, 1944
Eighth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, escorted by P-51s, P-47s and P-38s from Eighth and Ninth Air Force, hammered German targets in Kassel, Mainz, Giessen, Soest and Bebra.
Dec 12, 1944
Maj. Richard I. Bong, 49th Fighter Group, with 38 aerial victories, received the Medal of Honor from Gen. Douglas MacArthur in ceremonies at Tacloban in the Philippines.
Dec 17, 1944
Maj. Richard Bong, 9th Fighter Squadron, shot down his 40th enemy plane in the Pacific.
Dec 21, 1944
Gen. Henry H. Arnold became a five-star General of the Army and the first Airman to hold this rank.
Dec 24, 1944
Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Castle led some 2,000 heavy bombers against German airfields. On the way, an engine failed and his unescorted B-17 became a target to enemy fighters. After his bomber sustained serious damage, he ordered the crew to bail out while he remained at the controls. Another enemy attack caused the right wing gas tanks to explode, and the bomber crashed with the general still inside. For this sacrifice, General Castle received the Medal of Honor.
Dec 26, 1944
Maj. Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., received 38 aerial victories by shooting down four enemy planes. That total made Major McGuire the second leading ace in World War II. He died in combat 12 days later.
Dec 31, 1944
Far East Air Forces units launched a total of 163,397 sorties during 1944, of which 145,640 were considered effective. Fighters conducted the most sorties, with 100,998 sorties airborne and 90,240 effective. The command dropped 92,134 tons of bombs, expended 39,481,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, and destroyed 2,518 enemy aircraft. FEAF units suffered a total of 3,732 casualties, 1,360 dead, 1,206 wounded, and 1,166 either missing, captured, or interned. Aircraft losses totaled 2,584 aircraft of all types.
Jan 3, 1945
Fifty-seven of 97 B-29s bombed Nagoya, Japan, in a test-bombing mission to determine the efficacy of fire bombing over conventional high-explosive bombing. The inconclusive results gave the Japanese the mistaken impression that their fire-prevention system was adequate.
Jan 9, 1945
U.S. Army Air Forces participated in the opening of Luzon, Philippines Campaign.
Jan 28, 1945
Eighth Air Force celebrated its third birthday with a 1,000-plane raid on Germany. By this time, the Eighth had flown more than 250,000 bomber and 210,000 fighter sorties to deliver 518,000 tons of bombs and destroy 13,000 enemy planes.
Feb 3, 1945
More than 1,200 Amercian bombers and 900 fighters conducted the most concentrated raid on Berlin to date, dropping 2,266 tons of bombs.
Feb 5, 1945
Despite poor flying conditions, 589 Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers and 225 fighter escorts flew over the Alps to drop 1,110 tons of bombs on oil storage plants in Regensberg, Germany.
Feb 9, 1945
Yalta Conference between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin ended.
Feb 15, 1945
The Consolidated Vultee XP-81 first flew.
Feb 20, 1945
Secretary of War Henry Stimson approved the establishment of a rocket proving ground at White Sands, N.M.
Feb 22, 1945
Aircraft from Eighth, Ninth, and Fifteenth Air Forces began an all-out assault on German communications and other transportation targets.
Feb 25, 1945
Approximately 334 B-29s dropped 1,667 tons of fire bombs and destroyed 15 square miles of Tokyo to begin a campaign of night incendiary raids.
Feb 26, 1945
Lt. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, the commanding general of Army Air Forces in the Pacific area, was lost at sea while flying over the Pacific.
Feb 28, 1945
Eighth Air Force sent 1,104 bombers and 737 fighters to hit German transportation targets.
Apr 4, 1945
An YR-4 helicopter from the Tenth Air Force Air-Jungle Rescue Detachment landed in enemy territory in Burma and successfully rescued a PT-19 crash survivor. This event was the first helicopter combat rescue.
Apr 7, 1945
Twentieth Air Force made the first fighter-escorted B-29 mission against Japan. The taking of Iwo Jima, within fighter range of Japan, made this raid possible.
Apr 15, 1945
The XP-82 Twin Mustang first flew.
Apr 24, 1945
In his fighter bomber, Lt. Raymond L. Knight of Twelfth Air Force flew several low-level strafing missions in Italy's northern Po Valley. He destroyed 14 enemy aircraft and wrecked 10 others on the ground. In his final attack, Lieutenant Knight's plane was damaged so badly it was virtually inoperable. Realizing his unit's critical need for aircraft, he tried to return to base, but was unsuccessful. Lieutenant Knight ejected from his P-47, but his parachute failed. He died in the Apennines Mountains. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions and sacrifice.
Apr 25, 1945
Eighth Air Force made its last attack on an industrial target in World War II, when 274 bombers dropped 500 tons of bombs on Skoda Works at Plyen, Czechoslovakia.
Apr 26, 1945
Eighth Air Force fighters raided over 40 Luftwaffe installations in Germany and Czechoslovakia and destroyed a record 747 German fighters in one day.
May 1, 1945
Eighth Air Force sent nearly 400 B-17s from England on a mercy mission to drop nearly 700 tons of food over German-occupied Holland. The Germans approved this flight and promised not to shoot down the bombers if they flew along specified routes. Eighth and Royal air force bombers flew five more "Operation Chow Hound" missions during the next week and delivered nearly 7,900 tons of food.
May 3, 1945
In the last 9th Bomb Division mission, 132 A-26s bombed Czechoslovakia's Stod ammunitions plant.
May 7, 1945
Mass-produced B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, B-29s, P-38s, P-40s, P-51s and C-47s led to Victory Day in Europe. The German High Command surrendered unconditionally at Reims, effective May 9. With that surrender, Air Tactical Command began Projects Green and White, for personnel and aircraft to move 250,000 people and 5,900 aircraft from Europe and the Mediterranean theaters to the U.S. by September 1945.
May 8, 1945
Germany surrenders unconditionally.
May 16, 1945
Fighter-bombers assaulted the Ipo Dam area, Luzon, the Philippines with the largest mass employment of napalm in the Pacific War.
May 31, 1945
The last of 18,188 B-24 Liberators and Liberator variants delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force. This workhorse was produced in larger numbers than any other American aircraft and employed on more operational fronts than any other allied or enemy bomber in World War II.
Jun 9, 1945
About 110 B-29s attacked the aircraft factories at Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe, Japan.
Jun 11, 1945
The 393rd Bombardment Squadron aircrews arrived at Tinian Island in the Marianas from Wendover AFB, Utah. Their aircraft, Boeing B-29s, were the only combat planes assigned to the 509th Composite Group, which later dropped atomic bombs on Japan.
Jun 26, 1945
B-29s started nighttime raids on Japanese oil refineries.
Jul 13, 1945
The first of three Consolidated Vultee rocket research test vehicles built under a cancelled research contract with the U.S. Army Air Force launched successfully.
Jul 16, 1945
First atomic bomb, called the "Gadget," exploded at the Trinity Site near Alamogordo, N.M. This bomb had a yield of 19 kilotons. It was the prototype for the "Fat Man" bomb used against Japan.
Aug 1, 1945
In the largest one-day B-29 combat effort, 851 B-29 Superfortresses attacked four Japanese urban areas, a petroleum plant and mine fields.
Aug 1, 1945
At Edwards AFB, Calif., prototype YP-80As displayed their ability to attack bombers, even when outnumbered by six to one.
Aug 6, 1945
B-29 "Enola Gay" dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Aug 6, 1945
Major Richard I. Bong, America's "Ace of Aces" in World War II, dies in an aircraft crash on a routine acceptance flight for the P-80 Shooting Star.
Aug 8, 1945
At the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, scientists published an article suggesting that it may possible to fly an aircraft with an atomic engine and brick-sized fuel source around the world nonstop several times.
Aug 9, 1945
Ninety-five B-29s from Guam carried a record average bomb load of 20,648 pounds to strike the Nippon Oil Refinery at Amagasaki, Japan.
Aug 9, 1945
The second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan by B-29 "Bockscar."
Aug 12, 1945
From bases in China, Fourteenth Air Force attacked troops and convoys in Changsha corridor, China.
Aug 27, 1945
B-29s completed their first supply drop operation to Allied prisoners of war in the Weihsien camp near Peiping, China. In all, 154 camps with 63,500 prisoners in Japan, China and Korea, received food, medical supplies and clothing.
Aug 28, 1945
An advance communications team flew in to Atsugi Airfield near Tokyo. Under the protection of Imperial Army units, this team set up the control tower and communication equipment necessary for occupation forces to land. On Aug. 30, Mission 75 began, and it ended 13 days later without a single fatal aircraft accident. The 1,336 C-54 flights brought the 11th Airborne Division, the 27th Infantry Division and advanced echelons of Gen. MacArthur's headquarters, Far East Air Forces, the Eighth Army and an initial ATC detachment into Atsugi Airport.
Aug 30, 1945
Special Mission 75 ferried 39,928 occupation troops and 8,202 tons of supplies from a staging area in Okinawa to Japan. The mission used 259 C-54s and 360 B-24 bombers as cargo planes and associated aircraft.
Sep 2, 1945
Japan formally surrendered to be the U.S. on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This marked V-J Day and the end of World War II.
Sep 3, 1945
Maj. G. E. Cain flew an ATC C-54 Skymaster with a film record of Japan's surrender on a record 31-hour, 25 minute flight from Tokyo to Washington.
Sep 15, 1945
The production contract for the JB-2 rocket ended after 1,391 rockets were delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Sep 29, 1945
Dr. Wernher von Braun and other rocket scientists from Germany arrived in the U.S. Shortly thereafter, they began translating documents from the Peenemunde Test Center. These engineers helped the U.S. in its missile and space program under Project Paper Clip.
Oct 4, 1945
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster from the Army's Air Traffic Control completed the first global flight for a cargo-type aircraft by flying 23,279 miles in 149 hours, 44 minutes, including 33 hours, 21 minutes on the ground by the time it landed in Washington.
Oct 11, 1945
The Army launched a U.S.-made ballistic missile for the first time at White Sands Proving Ground, N.M. The Tiny Tim booster with a WAC, Corporal rocket reached 43 miles in altitude.
Oct 20, 1945
Lt. Gen. Nathan F. Twining led three B-29s in developing a new route from Guam to Washington via India and Germany. They completed the 13,167-mile-trip in 59 hours, 30 minutes.
Nov 19, 1945
Col. Clarence S. Irvine and Lt. Col. G. R. Stanley flew the B-29 Superfortress Pacusan Dreamboat to a nonstop, nonrefueled distance record of 7,916 miles by flying from Guam to Washington, D.C., in 35 hours, five minutes, lasting through Nov. 20.
Nov 25, 1945
Col. Joseph Holzapple flew a Douglas A-26 Invader around the world in 96 hours, 50 minutes of flying time, lasting through Nov. 30. His crew included Lt. Col. Charles R. Meyers, co-pilot; Lt. Otto H. Schumacher, navigator; and Cpl. Howard J. Walden, radio operator. They headed westward from Savannah, Ga. Four days and 24,859 miles later, they returned to Washington, D.C., after successfully circumnavigating the earth, thus demonstrating the ability of U.S. light bombers to reach any point in the world quickly.
Dec 3, 1945
The P-80 became the U.S. Army Air Force's first jet fighter.
Dec 8, 1945
Flying a Douglas XB-42, Lt. Col. H. F. Warden and Capt. Glenn W. Edwards set a FAI record of five hours, 17 minutes, 55 seconds for a transcontinental flight between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. They averaged 433.6 mph in the flight.
Dec 11, 1945
Col. Clarence S. Irvine and his crew flew his Pacusan Dreamboat B-29 to a five-hour, 27-minute, eight-second record for a 2,464-mile flight from Burbank, Calif., to New York. He averaged 450.38 mph for the trip in setting a FAI record for multi-engined military aircraft.
Dec 17, 1945
President Harry Truman presented the 1944 Collier Trophy to Gen. Carl Spaatz for "demonstrating the airpower concept," in the European War.
Dec 30, 1945
Republic Aviation revealed its four-engine XF-12 Rainbow. This flying photo laboratory could carry five crewmen at 425 mph. The Army Training Support Center later cancelled its order for six aircraft.
Jan 10, 1946
An Army R-5 sets an unofficial world helicopter record of 21,000 feet.
Jan 26, 1946
Col. William H. Council flying a P-80 sets a new cross-country record of four hours, 13 minutes and 26 seconds.
Jan 30, 1946
Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay announced the opening of an advanced aeronautical engineering school at Wright Field. He also asked for $300,000 to build a wind tunnel for supersonic aircraft.
Feb 3, 1946
At Columbus, Ohio, the U.S. Army Air Force disclosed the development of a plane with automatic devices for takeoff, flight and landing. The pilot only had to monitor the equipment.
Feb 7, 1946
Republic's XF-12 made its first flight. It was a four-engine flying photo lab built for the Air Technical Service Command. It demonstrated the ability to fly 470 mph at 45,000 feet for 4,500 miles.
Mar 1, 1946
Gen. Carl Spaatz designated Commander, Army Air Forces.
Mar 21, 1946
The Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command and the Air Defense Command are created.
Apr 15, 1946
The U.S. Army Air Forces changed an aircraft crew training facility at Muroc Field into a jet and rocket airplane research center.
Apr 16, 1946
The U.S. Army launched a V-2 rocket, the first in the U.S., at White Sands Proving Ground, N.M.
Apr 30, 1946
The Army and Navy adopted a standard system for designating guided missile and giving them popular names. For designations, four letters would be used: A for air, S for surface, U for underwater and M for missile. These letters would be mixed in three letter combinations, with the first indicating the missile's origin, the second its objective and the third its identity as a missile. As such, a surface-to-air missile became a SAM.
Jun 3, 1946
Flying a P-80 at 463 mph, Lt. Henry A. Johnson set a one hour, 20 minute, 31 second world record for 1,000 kilometers.
Jun 22, 1946
Two U.S. Army Air Forces P-80s left Schenectady, N.Y., for Washington, D.C. and Chicago to make the first airmail deliveries by jet.
Jun 28, 1946
The first V-2 rocket, with instruments for upper air research, launched from White Sands Proving Ground, N.M., to an altitude of 67 miles.
Jul 1, 1946
Maj. Woodrow P. Swancutt from the 509th Composite Group flew the B-29 "Dave's Dream" to Bikini Atoll, where he dropped a Nagasaki-type atomic bomb from 30,000 feet on 73 ships during Operation Crossroads. He sank five and heavily damaged nine ships.
Jul 1, 1946
The first presidential airplane, a C-118 Liftmaster, "The Independence," arrived at Washington National Airport. A military version of the Douglas DC-6, the four-engine Liftmaster could carry 20,200 pounds for 2,000 miles, and it could carry up to 76 troops.
Jul 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.
Aug 1, 1946
Capts. B. L. Grubaugh and J. L. England flew a B-29 from New York to Burbank, Calif. in seven hours, 28 minutes, three seconds to set a FAI speed record for multi-engined aircraft
Aug 6, 1946
Two radio-controlled B-17s, escorted by control planes, flew 2,174 miles from Hawaii to Muroc Lake, Calif.
Aug 8, 1946
The Convair XB-36 Peacemaker first flew at Fort Worth, Texas.
Aug 17, 1946
Sgt. Lawrence Lambert at Wright Field, Ohio became the first person in the U.S. to be ejected from an aircraft by ejection seat. He ejected from a P-61 flying at 302 mph at 7,800 feet in altitude.
Oct 4, 1946
Col. Clarence S. Irvine flew the B-29 "Pacusan Dreamboat" to a nonstop, unrefueled distance record of 9,500 miles by flying from Honolulu to Cairo, Egypt, in 39 hours, 36 minutes lasting through Oct.6. The flight path took the aircraft over Arctic regions to test crew through hazardous weather and with complicated navigation and communication problems.
Oct 10, 1946
Headquarters U.S. Army Air Force assigned Strategic Air Command the additional mission of sea search and antisubmarine warfare. A few weeks later, the 509th Bomb Group deployed its B-29s to Rio Hato, Panama, to join Navy forces in Operation Nullus.
Nov 14, 1946
Majs. D. H Jensen and W. C. Dodds in a Sikorsky R-5A helicopter set FAI duration, distance and speed records of nine hours, 57 minutes over 621,369 miles at 66.642 mph without a payload.
Nov 15, 1946
During Operations Mountain Goat and Aliso Canyon, Tactical Air Command used P-80 jets for the first time to provide close air support to ground forces in joint Army-Navy-Air Force exercises at Camp Pendelton, Calif. Six tactical groups flew 3,337 sorties, while troop carrier groups moved 1,052 people and 245,370 pounds of cargo to and from the maneuver area.
Dec 17, 1946
At Hollomon AFB, N.M., the National Institute of Health started a space biological research program.
Dec 22, 1946
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics announced the Tiamat's development. This winged rocket missile could fly more than 600 mph. Flown at Langley Field, Va., it was the first guided missile to successfully fly through a predetermined program of maneuvers.
Jan 1, 1947
The Pacific Air Command, U.S. Army was redesignated Far East Air Forces (FEAF). Seventh Air Force in Hawaii transferred to Army Air Forces on Jan. 1, and then was designated Pacific Air Command on Dec. 15.
Feb 10, 1947
Maj. E. M. Cassell set an unofficial helicopter altitude record of 19,167 feet in a Sikorsky R-5A at Dayton, Ohio.
Feb 28, 1947
A P-82 set a record by flying non-stop from Hawaii to New York in 14 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds.
Apr 12, 1947
Capt. William P. Odom, pilot; T. Carroll Sallee, navigator and Milton Reynolds, owner, flew the Reynolds Bombshell through April 15, a converted A-26 from La Guardia Field, N.Y., on a 20,000-mile around-the-world-flight. They landed back at La Guardia, after a 78-hour, 56-minute flight. Because they did not apply to the FAI before the flight, their effort was declared an unofficial record.
May 5, 1947
The H-20 Flying Bike, the world's first ramjet helicopter, completed its first flight.
May 16, 1947
Over New York 101 B-29s "theoretically" dropped bombs in Strategic Air Command's first maximum effort mission.
Jun 19, 1947
Col. Albert Boyd set a world speed record of 623.8 mph, flying an XP-80R jet airplane over a three-kilometer course at Muroc Field, Calif.
Jul 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.
Aug 16, 1947
A production-model Convair B-36A flew for the first time.
Sep 17, 1947
The new National Military Establishment, with the new Office of Secretary of Defense, came into being as the Secretary of Defense James Forrestal was sworn in.
Sep 18, 1947
W. Stuart Symington is sworn in as the first Secretary of the Air Force. Effective date of transfer of air activities from the Army to new Department of the Air Force.
Sep 22, 1947
A U.S. Air Force C-54 flew 2,400 miles from Stephenville, Newfoundland, to London on the first transatlantic robot-controlled flight.
Sep 25, 1947
Gen. Carl Spaatz is appointed the first U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff.
Oct 1, 1947
North American's protype F-86 Sabre (XP-86) first flew at Rogers Dry Lake, Calif.
Oct 11, 1947
The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter, a transport variant of the B-29 Superfortress, began service in Air Training Command. It could be configured to transport materiel, troops or casualties.
Oct 14, 1947
Capt. Charles E. Yeager at Muroc Army Air Field, Calif. makes the first faster-than-sound flight, in a rocket-powered research plane, Bell XS-1 rocket ship. Captain Yeager is awarded the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.
Oct 14, 1947
Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal approved the Air Force's control over all surface-to-surface "pilotless aircraft" and strategic missiles. The Army gained control over all tactical missiles.
Nov 23, 1947
The XC-99, world's largest plane at that time, made its first flight at San Diego.
Nov 24, 1947
White Sands Proving Ground, N.M., launched the first live Aerobee rocket to 190,000 feet.
Nov 28, 1947
The Air Force added strategic aerial mining to Strategic Air Command's list of mission responsibilities.
Dec 10, 1947
Lt. Col. (Dr.) John P. Stapp took his first rocket propelled sled ride.
Jan 2, 1948
In Japan, two P-80 Shooting Stars attained 778 mph with aid of tail winds.
Jan 15, 1948
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, approved the development of satellite components and satellites.
Jan 30, 1948
Orville Wright died in Dayton, Ohio, at 76.
Feb 6, 1948
The Army successfully used electronic guidance on a V-2 rocket for the first time in a 70-mile ascent at White Sands Proving Ground, N.M.
Feb 15, 1948
The XF-87 made its first flight at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Feb 20, 1948
Strategic Air Command receives its first B-50 Superfortress bomber. Equipped for in-flight refueling, the B-50 is an improved version of the B-29 with larger engines and a taller tail fin and rudder.
Apr 21, 1948
The secretary of Defense issued a memo called the Key West Agreement to his secretaries, with a paper defining the functions of the services and the Joint Chiefs of Staff based on the National Security Act. It was the first functions paper drawn up after the act. The Air Force received responsibility for the air defense of America.
Apr 26, 1948
The U.S. Air Force becomes the first service to plan for racial integration, anticipating President Truman's executive order to be issued in July.
May 13, 1948
The first U.S. built two-staged rocket, the Bumper-WAC, launched from White Sands, N.M.
May 15, 1948
Air Materiel Command asked Boeing to develop an American aerial fueling system, the flying boom to overcome problems with the British hose system used on B-29s. Among the deficiencies noted were slow rate of fuel flow, time-consuming contact procedures, excessive weight and space requirements and slow flying speeds during refueling.
May 23, 1948
At Aberdeen, Md., the Army announced the dedication of the first continuous wind tunnel capable of 3,000 mph winds.
May 24, 1948
Jacqueline Cochran set a world speed record of 432 mph for propeller-driven planes over a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) closed circuit course.
May 25, 1948
Using a modified B-29 as the tanker aircraft, the Air Force completed its first in-flight refueling. Prior to this event, Boeing conducted the refueling demonstration program.
May 26, 1948
The first Navaho research test vehicle launched successfully at the White Sands Proving Ground, N.M.
Jun 5, 1948
The YB-49 Flying Wing crashed northwest of Muroc AFB, Calif., Capt. Glenn Edwards, the copilot, died in the crash; a year and a half later the base was renamed Edwards AFB.
Jun 10, 1948
The U.S. Air Force confirmed that Capt. Chuck Yeager had repeatedly attained supersonic speeds in the Bell X-1 (formerly XS-1).
Jun 11, 1948
The U.S. Air Force revised its aircraft designations from "P" (for pursuit) to "F" (for fighter).
Jun 12, 1948
Congress passes the Women's Armed Service Integration Act, establishing Women in the Air Force.
Jun 26, 1948
The Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles) begins as a response to a ground blockade imposed by the Soviet Union on Berlin.
Jun 26, 1948
The 7th Bomb Group at Carswell AFB, Texas, received Strategic Air Command's first B-36A Peacemaker. With its 160-foot length and 230-foot wingspan, the six-engine Peacemaker was the world's largest warplane. The bomber had an intercontinental capability.
Jul 14, 1948
In the first West-East transatlantic flight of jets, 16 F-80s flew from Selfridge Field, Mich. to Scotland through July 20. The trip across the Atlantic took nine hours, 20 minutes.
Jul 17, 1948
With the Berlin Blockade still in effect, B-29s arrived in England for training at British bases. These were the first U.S. bombers to be based in the United Kingdom after World War II.
Jul 19, 1948
Strategic Air Command activated the U.S. Air Force's first two air refueling squadrons, the 43rd and 509th, at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. and Roswell AFB, N.M.
Jul 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.
Jul 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.
Jul 30, 1948
North American Aviation delivered the first operational jet bomber, the B-45A Tornado, to the Air Force.
Aug 16, 1948
Northrop's XF-89 Scorpion made its first flight at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Aug 21, 1948
In his final report as Chief of Staff for the Air Force, Gen. Carl Spaatz disclosed the development of a supersonic guided atomic missile with a 5,000-mile range.
Aug 23, 1948
The 31st Fighter Wing at Turner AFB, Ga., received Tactical Air Command's first F-84 aircraft.
Sep 1, 1948
The second XR-12 lifted off from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Muroc, Calif., and climbed westward to gain altitude over the Pacific Ocean. Upon reaching its 40,000-foot cruising altitude, the XR-12 headed eastward and began photographing its entire route over the entire U.S. The crew shot a continuous 325-foot long strip of film composed of 390 individual photos. The aircraft landed at Mitchel Field in Long Island N.Y., completing a flight lasting six hours and 55 minutes. The record-shattering flight was featured in the Nov. 29, 1948 issue of Life magazine, and the filmstrip went on display at the 1948 Air Force Association Convention in New York.
Sep 11, 1948
Far East Air Forces received orders to send an air echelon with 36 C-54 aircraft and a skeleton group headquarters to U.S. Air Forces in Europe on indefinite duty. FEAF sent the 317th Tactical Carrier Group (Heavy) with the 22nd Tactical Carrier Squadron, 39th Tactical Carrier Squadron and 41st Tactical Carrier Squadron (Heavy). The group's temporary transfer, coupled with the loss of 24 Military Air Transportation Service C-54s from the theater to Germany for the airlift and a shipping strike on the West coast, caused severe supply shortages throughout the Pacific.
Sep 15, 1948
Maj. Richard L. Johnson set a 679 mph world speed record over a three kilometer course in a North American F-86A Sabre at Muroc Field, Calif.
Sep 28, 1948
The Army Signal Corps released a balloon at Belmar, N.J., and it set a 140,000-foot altitude record.
Oct 20, 1948
The XF-88, predecessor of the F-101, first flew.
Nov 17, 1948
Boeing received a contract to build two prototype B-52 bombers.
Nov 18, 1948
The 139th Fighter Squadron was established and federally recognized as a fighter base on Nov. 18, 1948, A group of 22 officers and 43 Airmen, mostly World War II veterans, mustered in the Naval Training Center at the Scotia Naval Supply Depot.
Nov 30, 1948
Curtiss-Wright demonstrated new reversible pitch propellers, which enabled a C-54 Skymaster to descend from 15,000 to 1,000 feet in one minute and 22 seconds.
Dec 8, 1948
A B-36 completed a 9,400-mile nonstop, round-trip between Fort Worth, Texas, and Hawaii without refueling.
Dec 9, 1948
An arctic storm forced a C-47 Skytrain to land on the Greenland ice cap, stranding the crew of seven. In a rescue attempt using a B-17 and a towed glider, five more crewmembers became stranded. On Dec. 28, Lt Col. Emil Beaudry landed his ski-equipped C-47 on the ice cap to rescue all 12 men and earn the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.
Dec 13, 1948
Col. Edward P. Eagan flew 20,559 miles around the world from New York and back, in a record 147 hours, 15 minutes.
Dec 17, 1948
The Smithsonian Institution celebrated the return of the Wright's Kitty Hawk Flyer to the U.S. on the 45th anniversary of heavier-than-air-flight. The London Science Museum kept the aircraft for more than 20 years before returning it to Washington, D.C.
Dec 20, 1948
The XB-47 Stratojet averaged 500 mph for a 1,000-mile flight from Moses Lake, Wash., to Albuquerque, N.M.
Dec 29, 1948
Defense Secretary Forrestal announced that the U.S. was working on an "Earth satellite vehicle program," to study the operation of guided rockets beyond the earth's pull of gravity.
Jan 5, 1949
Capt. Charles E. Yeager, flying the X-1, was air-launched at an altitude of 23,000 feet.
Jan 25, 1949
The U.S. Air Force adopted a slate-blue uniform.
Feb 26, 1949
Capt. James Gallagher flew the B-50 Lucky Lady II from Carswell AFB, Texas through March 2, on the first nonstop around-the-world flight. The aircrew received several awards: the first Mackay Trophy and Air Age Trophy (later renamed the Hoyt S. Vandenberg Trophy).
Mar 2, 1949
Lucky Lady II lands at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. The B-50 Superfortress completes the first nonstop, around-the-world flight in history, covering 23,452 miles in 94 hours and 1 minute.
Apr 5, 1949
Fairchild AFB, Wash., completed the first two production models of the C-119 troop-carrying transport.
Apr 16, 1949
The YF-94 Starfire first flew.
Apr 16, 1949
The Berlin Airlift delivered a record 12,940 tons in a 24-hour period.
May 7, 1949
Gen. Henry H. Arnold is given the permanent rank of General of the Air Force.
May 11, 1949
President Truman signed a bill to provide a 5,000-mile guided missile test range to the U. S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force established this range at Cape Canaveral. It was designated the Atlantic Missile Range on May 1, 1958.
May 12, 1949
The Soviet Union ended the Berlin blockade; however, the airlift continued until Sept. to build up stock piles. From June 12, 1948 to May 12, 1949, U. S. Air Forces in Europe primarily used C-54 cargo aircraft (C-47s also flew from June until Sept. 30, 1948) to airlift some 1,783,000 tons of food, clothing, fuel, medical supplies and coal to the beleaguered city.
May 12, 1949
The Combined Airlift Task Force (both the British and U.S. efforts) flew 277,569 missions to deliver a total of 2,325,510 tons of cargo into Berlin with coal accounting for 60 percent of the total tonnage.
May 21, 1949
Capt. Hubert D. Gaddis, flying a Sikorsky S-52-1 helicopter, set an international and U. S. altitude record of 21,220 feet at Bridgeport, Conn.
Jun 2, 1949
Gen. Henry H. Arnold received the permanent rank of General of the Air Force.
Jun 29, 1949
The U.S. Air Force became the first service to announce an end to racial segregation in its ranks.
Jul 1, 1949
Lockheed's F-94 Starfire prototype first flew.
Jul 3, 1949
The U.S. Air Force gave the B-29 "Enola Gay," the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, to the Smithsonian Institute.
Jul 26, 1949
The National Military Establishment announced production of the Sikorsky H-5H, the first amphibian helicopter.
Aug 17, 1949
The Senate ratified the Geneva international treaty regarding rights in aircraft.
Sep 16, 1949
The first Air Force three-jet aircraft, the Martin XB-51 received its final checkout.
Sep 22, 1949
Convair's T-29 Flying Schoolroom made its first flight. It provided navigator training at 14 stations.
Sep 23, 1949
Through air samples, an Air Weather Service RB-29 confirmed the first Soviet A-bomb explosion.
Sep 30, 1949
The Berlin airlift, gradually reduced since May 12, officially ends. Allied aircraft carried 2,343,301.5 tons of supplies on 277,264 flights. U.S. planes carried 1,783,826 tons.
Oct 4, 1949
C-82s dropped an entire field artillery battery by parachute at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Oct 17, 1949
Boeing delivered the first C-97A to the Military Air Transport Service.
Oct 30, 1949
Lt. G. A. Rullo and M. D. Kembro (Civil Air Patrol) flew a Sikorsky helicopter to an unofficial record of 755 miles in 10 hours, 50 minutes.
Nov 14, 1949
The U.S. Air Force made its first quantity procurement of production Boeing B-47s.
Nov 15, 1949
The Ryan Aeronautical Company released data on the first air-to-air missile, the XAAM-A-1 Firebird, a 10-foot, rocket-powered projectile.
Nov 18, 1949
An Air Force C-74 Globemaster, "The Champ," flew from Mobile, Ala., across the Atlantic in 23 hours and landed at Marham, England, with a record of 103 passengers. It was the first aircraft to carry 100 passengers across the Atlantic.
Nov 29, 1949
Jacqueline Cochran set an international speed record of 436.995 mph for 310.685 miles without a payload in an F-51 Mustang at the Desert Center, in Mount Wilson Course, Calif.
Dec 2, 1949
First U.S. Air Forces Aerobee missile launched at Holloman AFB, N.M.
Dec 5, 1949
The U.S. Air Force diverted $50 million from other projects to build a radar screen in Alaska and certain U.S. areas after detecting a Soviet atomic explosion in August 1949.
Dec 22, 1949
The YF-86D Sabre made its maiden flight at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Dec 25, 1949
The U.S. Air Force revealed the development of stupalith, a ceramic that contracted when heated and expanded when cooled. It also withstood up to 2,000 degrees and would be used on jet and rocket engines.
Dec 29, 1949
Jacqueline Cochran set a 436,995 mph international record for 500 kilometers (310.685 miles) in an F-51 without payload at the Mount Wilson Course.
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•Satan, like Prometheus, gave knowledge to humanity by giving Eve the fruit from the forbidden tree. Because of Satan, humanity gained knowledge of good and evil, according to Genesis. Since we couldn't have possessed knowledge of good and evil before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve couldn't have known that eating the fruit was evil, so it seems a little harsh to punish them as severely as God did. Satan gave humans true capacity for moral judgment, unlike God, who simply expected everyone to mindlessly obey his orders.
•There is no biblical record of Satan engaging in the murder of torture of any human being, unlike God, who is guilty (and proudly guilty) of commiting genocide.
•There is no biblical record of Satan ever ordering someone to kill someone else, unlike God, who has repeatedly demanded the deaths of those who commit even the smallest of offenses.
•Satan will not be holding a massively dramatic ceremony full of blood and death for the return of his son to Earth. God apparently will.
Satan's real name is Samael,
he is "the great prince in heaven." (Pirḳe R. El. xiii., beginning), who rules over angels and powers (ib.; Martyrdom of Isaiah, ii. 2). (Tan. on Gen. xxxii. 35; Jellinek, l.c. vi. 31, 109, etc.). He flies through the air like a bird (Targ. to Job xxviii. 7), and, while the ḥayyot and ofannim have only six wings, he has twelve. In so far as he is identified with the serpent ("J. Q. R." vi. 12), with carnal desire (Yeẓer ha-Ra'), and with the angel of death, all legends associated with Satan refer equally to him.Even at the creation of the world he was Lucifer.
heaven to seduce the first human pair (Pirḳe R. El. xiii., beginning; Yalḳ. Gen. i. 25), and for this purpose he planted the vine, the forbidden tree of paradise (Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, iv.). He was himself the serpent, whose form he merely assumed (ib. ix.; "J. Q. R." vi. 328), and was one of the leaders of the angels who married the daughters of men (Gen. vi. 1-4), wrestled with Jacob.Samael is represented as the angel of death ("Revue de Numismatique," 1892, pp. 246, 251). Eve is supposed to have become pregnant by him. Giving birth to Cain, the first Human being.
This angel Samael is said to be related with the planet Mars, and he states that explicitly in the Zohar. Samael says:
"...my entire domination is based on killing. And if I accept the Torah, there will no longer be wars. My rule is over the planet Maadim (Mars) that indicates spilling of blood." - ספר הזהר Zohar
Ares, Mars, Samael is the same force. He wages his war on behalf of God, not for selfish purposes, and not to punish indiscriminately, but to punish on behalf of God, with the permission of God, and for the good of all. Samael performs the will of God. This the power of Samael: to kill and to make alive. That power acts in accordance with the Most High, those causes which exist above the sephirah Geburah. Geburah (severity) is the sephirah of Mars from which the angel Samael departs in order to punish those who deserve it and to reward those who deserve it. This is simple cause and effect. This is in the the root of Judaism and Christianity, but everyone ignores it. (http://samaelaunweor.info/identity/38-the-angel-samael.html).

subset: commoncrawl


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Chamberlin Showcase with KissFM
HELLO FRIENDS! We invite you down to the Zebra tonight and Saturday evening as we rock out for the 2012 Chamberlin Showcase. Friday features 10 DJs with 20 minute sets, Saturday features bands and Hip-Hop.
HELLO FRIENDS! We invite you down to the Zebra tonight and Saturday evening as we rock out for the 2012 Chamberlin Showcase. Friday features 10 DJs with 20 minute sets, Saturday features bands and Hip-Hop.
HUSHUSH 2012 was amazing. It's hard to fathom an event that is more fun, with better music, and so many awesome people. Jason Root, Treasure Fingers, Marty Party, and Mimosa (even though the police shut him down early) all absolutely killed it.
If you came and supported HUSHUSH, you have been heard and we will keep this event coming to you bigger and better. If you missed the show...do yourself a favor and put a reminder in your phone for next year. Check out the video by Colten Weaver and reminisce or get mad at yourself for missing it.
His website says he is a "South African-born Brooklyn native". I'm not sure what that means but I think it leads one to get an idea of the wide range of influences MartyParty has had in order to lead him to create such diverse music
We have a bunch of chances for you to win tickets to HUSHUSH 2012! All you have to do is come by and enter your name to win a pair of tickets to the show. You don't have to be present to win. We will only be at the location for the time listed below, so try to make it to every one of them for your best chances!! And while you're here at bozemanskissfm.com sign up to win a VIP HUSHUSH Package for you and 7 friends!
The 6th Annual Cardboard Box City takes place at Bogart Park tonight. People of all ages create cardboard boxes, homes, rocket ships, etc and spend the night to bring awareness to homeless families in our Gallatin Valley community
Below you will find nearly every event happening all around Bozeman in the coming weeks. You can sort by venue, date, event name and even search the list of events.
Billie Joe's rant at the iHeart Music Festival on Friday night that was followed with entry into rehab has been publicized in a variety of ways. Diffuser.fm backs Billie up, Elvis Duran and the Morning show, this morning, had some not so nice things t
Today is the day!! From 1-4pm today I, Chadwick, will be broadcasting live from the Town and Country campus location and taking donations for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. KISS and Fox 28 have teamed up for several years now in a competition between our sister radio station XL Country and ABC (they are at the N.19th T&C location) to see who can raise the most food.
Dueling Pianos are back tonight at the Pourhouse in Downtown Bozeman at 8pm. If you missed the show a few months ago, this is your chance to stop kicking yourself and see the show! Get some friends together and enjoy an evening of gut busting laughs, some good drinks ($3 Stoli drink special), and great food (bbq ribs on special). It's Thursday! The weekend begins tonight at the Pourhou
Treasure Fingers will be performing live October 6th for the 2nd annual HUSHUSH Electronic Music Festival at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. My favorite part of shows, is getting to know the artists before seeing the live performance
If you are a musician, DJ, Band, producer this is your chance to be see and be seen. The Chamberlin Showcase is coming October 12th and 13th to the Zebra Cocktail Lounge. The 12th will feature DJ/Producers and the 13th will be the bands. Each act gets 20 minutes to perform. Registration can be found at Chamberlinproductions.com.
I feel like I'm the last to hear about this track, but this weekend my buddy Rick showed me the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis "Thrift Shop" video and holy crap it it awesome! It is the first track from "The Heist" that will be independently released October 8th


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Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons Pick and Preview
- Updated: September 13, 2011
NFL Betting Previews- Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons
Point spread by VietBet: Philadelphia -1
Over/Under: 50.5
The birds of prey will be out in full-force this upcoming Sunday night when the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons clash in a battle between two division winners from a year ago. Game time from the Georgia Dome is set for 8:20 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
Philadelphia started the 2011 regular season on a solid note with a 31-13 victory over St. Louis as a 4.5-point road favorite. The total ended as a 'push' against a closing line of 44 points. Philadelphia fell behind early in this one on a Steven Jackson 47-yard touchdown run on the Rams first play from scrimmage, but it was all Philadelphia from there as the Eagles built a 10-point lead at the half and put things away for good on a LeSean McCoy 49-yard run for a score in the fourth quarter.
Michael Vick completed less than 50 percent of his throws, but made enough plays to get the job done. He finished the game with 187 yards passing and 98 yards rushing to help the Eagles amass over 400 yards of total offense against St. Louis.
Atlanta is still reeling from its 30-12 loss to Chicago as a three-point road favorite. The total in this game squeaked 'over' the 40.5-point line. The Falcons' offense could manage just six points against the Bears as their only other score was an interception return for a touchdown when the game was already out of reach.
Led by quarterback Matt Ryan's 319 yards passing, Atlanta's offense was able to move the ball up and down the field against the Bears, but went just 4-for -13 on third downs and 0-for-2 from the Red Zone. The Falcons did a good job running the ball against Chicago with 110 total rushing yards and a healthy average of 7.9 yards an attempt. Michael Turner led the way with 100 yards on 10 carries.
The Eagles are 4-1 straight-up in their last five road games and the total has gone 'over' in six of their last seven games away from home. The Falcons are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games at home and the total has gone 'over' in nine of their last 13 games overall.
Head-to-head, Philadelphia boasts an 8-1 SU record in the last nine games and a 10-1-1 record against the spread in the last 12 meetings. The total has stayed 'under' in seven of the last eight games overall and in the last five games played in Atlanta.
This will be Michael Vick's first appearance in the Georgia Dome since his days in Atlanta, but do not expect a warm welcome from the hometown crowd. What you can expect is for Vick to light things up in prime time as the Eagles roll to a 2-0 start.
The NFL Pick: Philadelphia 34 Atlanta 21
Cole Ryan
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ESPN gave former SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann a new show last month. You might have heard.
Randy Edsall "gave" linebacker Marcus Whitfield the game ball Saturday. You might have heard that, too.
Olbermann did. He read more into it, considered it and didn't like it much. So Wednesday night, he lumped Edsall into a category he had until then seen fit only for the Bryce Harpers and Jeff Wilpons of the world: "World's Worst Person in Sports." You read that right.
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But it turns out there is more to the story. We reported today on the existence of an old document in which the NCAA declared that schools were not permitted to actually provide a game ball to a player. The NCAA says the rule has been revisited.
Below is a transcript from the minute-plus that Olbermann spent wagging his finger at the Terps coach:
"Our winner is a good old American college football coach: Randy Edsall of Maryland. Maryland linebacker Marcus Whitfield opened the season with five tackles and one-and-a-half sacks in the Terps' 43-10 win over Florida International, and they gave him the defensive game ball. Well, they said they gave him the game ball.
"After all the yelling in the locker room, Whitfield went to actually get the game ball to take it home or, I don't know, paint it. That's when he found out, quote, 'We can't get the game ball until after we leave school because it's against NCAA regulations. We have the game ball, but it's in the archives.' Whitfield says he can wait; it's not a problem. He doesn't want to get anybody in trouble.
"So every winning team in every college football game is violating NCAA rules -- the extra-benefit rules -- each time it awards a game ball? There are 300 rules violations every Saturday? Maryland says it is abiding by the NCAA rule that places a monetary limit on gifts that athletes can receive. It's 225 bucks a year for underclassmen, 425 for seniors. The ball would count against it.
"The NCAA response? Hooey. 'A student-athlete can keep a game ball,' NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn told The Baltimore Sun, adding it does not count against the extra-benefit rules. Coach Randy 'I'm taking your ball and going home' Edsall, today's worst person in the sports world."


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