One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University

1997–98
September 7: At Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, test pilot Paul Metz
piloted the extremely maneuverable F–22 Raptor in its first flight. A
new stealth fighter with the ability to cruise supersonically, the F–22
would replace the venerable F–15 for air-superiority missions.
152
An F–22 Raptor launches an AIM–9 Sidewinder missile during a test.
October 12: The Air Force began a relief airlift to Indonesia to help fight forest
fires there. Three Wyoming Air National Guard C–130s from the
153d Airlift Wing, equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System,
dropped 685,000 gallons of water and fire retardant on fires in Java
and Sumatra, each airplane dropping up to 3,000 gallons at a time. The
operation concluded in early December after 194 sorties.
December 27: After Typhoon Paka struck Guam with winds up to 236 miles
per hour, C–5s, C–141s, C–130s, and KC–135s airlifted relief equipment
and supplies to Andersen Air Force Base on the island, delivering
more than 2.5 million pounds of cargo by January 4.
1998
February 11: A B–1B bomber first dropped a Joint Direct Attack Munition,
a conventional bomb fitted with satellite-guidance equipment, over a
test range at China Lake, California.
February 23: B–2s deployed overseas for the first time, flying from Whiteman
Air Force Base, Missouri, to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
February 28: The RQ–4 Global Hawk first flew. This new unmanned aerial
vehicle, designed for high-altitude, long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance
missions, took off from Edwards Air Force Base, California,
on a 56-minute flight. The aircraft, with a wingspan of 116 feet, was