One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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November 29: <strong>The</strong> Pan American <strong>Air</strong>ways China Clipper, a Martin 130 fourengine<br />
flying boat, completed the first transpacific airmail flight<br />
between San Francisco and Manila, the Philippines.<br />
December 17: <strong>The</strong> DC–3, a revolutionary new airliner that became the most<br />
popular transport in the world, flew for the first time.<br />
December 22: Brig. Gen. Oscar Westover succeeded Maj. Gen. Benjamin D.<br />
Foulois as chief <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Air</strong> Corps.<br />
December 27: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Corps’s 5th Group (Composite) dropped bombs to<br />
divert lava flowing from Mauna Loa volcano, which was threatening<br />
the city <strong>of</strong> Hilo, Hawaii.<br />
1936<br />
February 19: William “Billy” Mitchell died in New York City. He was buried<br />
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<br />
June 6: <strong>The</strong> Socony-Vacuum Oil Company <strong>of</strong> Paulsboro, New Jersey, began<br />
producing 100-octane aviation gasoline, which provided more power<br />
for aircraft engines, allowing planes to fly faster and carry heavier<br />
weights.<br />
June 7: Flying from New York to Los Angeles entirely on instruments, Maj.<br />
Ira C. Eaker completed the first transcontinental “blind” flight.<br />
June 16: Seversky <strong>Air</strong>craft Company won a contract to provide the <strong>Air</strong> Corps<br />
with P–35 airplanes—the Army’s first single-seat fighters with enclosed<br />
cockpits and retractable landing gear.<br />
July 26: German airplanes arrived in Morocco to airlift the Army <strong>of</strong> Africa<br />
to Spain at the opening <strong>of</strong> the Spanish Civil War. Gen. Francisco<br />
Franco <strong>of</strong> Spain commanded this army.<br />
November 4: <strong>The</strong> Pan American Hawaiian Clipper completed the first regular<br />
passenger transpacific flight from Alameda, California, to Manila,<br />
the Philippines, and back.<br />
1937<br />
1935–37<br />
March 1: <strong>The</strong> 2d Bombardment Group at Langley Field, Virginia, acquired<br />
its first YB–17A, the prototype <strong>of</strong> the B–17 Flying Fortress. Equipped<br />
with multiple machine guns to defend itself against fighters swift<br />
enough to catch it, the B–17 was designed to fly unescorted to longrange<br />
enemy targets.<br />
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