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

with some 43,000 airplanes, most of them ferried or shipped to Great
Britain and the Soviet Union.
March 22: The 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first black flying unit, was activated
at Chanute Field, Illinois, under the command of Capt. Harold
R. Maddux.
April 9: The Danish government in exile agreed to allow the United States
to construct and operate airfields in Greenland.
May 6: The Republic P–47 Thunderbolt flew for the first time, with company
test pilot Lowery Brabham at the controls.
May 14: Twenty-one B–17 Flying Fortresses completed the first mass flight of
bombers over the Pacific Ocean, landing at Hickam Field, Hawaii,
after taking off from Hamilton Field, California, the previous day.
June 16: The Consolidated B–24 Liberator, a four-engine bomber that could
fly faster and farther than the similarly sized B–17, entered the Air
Corps inventory. More than 18,000 B–24s were produced during
World War II, a greater number than any other U.S. aircraft.
The B–24 Liberator heavy bomber
1941
June 20: The War Department established the Army Air Forces under Maj.
Gen. Henry H. Arnold. It encompassed both the Office of the Chief of
the Air Corps under Maj. Gen. George Brett, who was responsible for
research, development, supply, and maintenance, and Air Force Combat
Command (formerly General Headquarters Air Force) under Lt.
Gen. Delos C. Emmons, who was responsible for doctrine and operational
training.
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