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

1950–51
December 20: In Operation CHRISTMAS KIDLIFT, 12 C–54s of the 61st
Troop Carrier Group airlifted more than 800 endangered South
Korean orphans from Kimpo to Cheju-do, an island off the South
Korean coast.
1951
January 13: Far East Air Forces flew the first effective Tarzon mission against
an enemy-held bridge at Kanggye, Korea, destroying 58 feet of the
structure with one six-ton radio-guided bomb.
January 17: For the first time, F–86 Sabre jets flew missions as fighterbombers
against ground targets in Korea.
January 21: Lt. Col. William E. Bertram became the first USAF pilot to shoot
down a MiG–15 while flying an F–84 Thunderjet.
February 13–16: More than 100 transport aircraft from the 315th Air Division
(Combat Cargo) dropped supplies day and night to members of
the U.S. 23d Regimental Combat Team and a French battalion that
Chinese troops had surrounded temporarily at Chipyong-ni in central
Korea. H–5 helicopters of the 3d Air Rescue Squadron delivered medical
supplies and evacuated wounded despite a blinding snowstorm.
February 16: The Army began using the L–19 Bird Dog for forward air control,
artillery spotting, and other frontline duties in Korea.
March 1: The Air Force established its northernmost operational base—
Thule Air Base, Greenland—690 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
March 15: A Boeing KC–97A Stratofreighter tanker successfully refueled a
B–47 jet bomber in flight, demonstrating the bomber’s long-range
potential.
March 23: In Operation TOMAHAWK, the second airborne operation of
the Korean War and the largest to occur in one day, 120 USAF transports
dropped more than 3,400 U.S. troops and 220 tons of their
equipment and supplies behind enemy lines at Munsan-ni in Korea.
March 24: The Far East Air Forces used an H–19 helicopter for the first time
for the air evacuation of wounded troops in Korea. The H–19 was
larger, more powerful, and longer ranged than the H–5 helicopter
used earlier.
April 17: Warrant Officer Donald Nichols earned the Distinguished Service
Cross for leading a special operations team aboard a helicopter to
recover MiG–15 wreckage and technical information.
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