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

1948–49
July 20: Sixteen F–80 Shooting Stars completed a mission from Selfridge
Field, Michigan, to Scotland after nine hours and 20 minutes—the
first west-to-east transatlantic flight by jet planes.
July 23: The Military Air Transport Service established Airlift Task Force
with headquarters in Germany for relief to Berlin. Maj. Gen. William
H. Tunner was named to command Task Force operations.
July 30: North American Aviation delivered to the Air Force its first operational
jet bomber—the B–45A Tornado. Later it became the first USAF
aircraft to carry a tactical nuclear bomb.
December 8: A B–36 completed a 9,400-mile nonstop flight from Texas to
Hawaii and back without refueling.
December 9–28: On December 9, 1948, an arctic storm forced the crew of a
C–47 Skytrain to land on the Greenland ice cap, stranding a crew of
seven. Subsequent rescue attempts by a B–17 and a towed glider failed,
stranding five rescuers as well. On December 28, Lt. Col. Emil Beaudry
landed a ski-equipped Skytrain on the ice cap, rescuing the 12 airmen
and subsequently winning the Mackay Trophy.
December 17: On the 45th anniversary of the first heavier-than-air aircraft
flight, the Smithsonian Institution celebrated the return of the 1903
Wright Flyer, also called the Kitty Hawk, to the United States. The
plane arrived in Washington, D.C., on November 22 from the Science
Museum in London, where it had been displayed for 20 years.
1949
January 3: After severe blizzards hit eight western states, the Air Force began
Operation HAYRIDE. By March 15 more than 200 airplanes had airlifted
4,778 tons of livestock feed, food, blankets, clothing, and medical
supplies.
March 2: Capt. James G. Gallagher and his crew in Lucky Lady II, a B–50
Superfortress, completed the first nonstop flight around the world.
They flew more than 23,450 miles in slightly more than 94 hours, taking
off and landing at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, and refueling in
the air over the Azores, Arabia, the Philippines, and Hawaii. For this
flight, the Lucky Lady II crew won the Mackay Trophy.
April 6: The Curtiss-Wright Company announced that the Bell X–1 rocket
plane, powered by a Curtiss-Wright engine, flew at a record 1,000 miles
per hour.
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