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 30: Maj. George A. Davis, Jr., became the first <strong>USAF</strong> ace <strong>of</strong> two<br />
wars, shooting down his fourth and fifth enemy airplanes in Korea<br />
after having shot down seven enemy aircraft during World War II.<br />
1952<br />
1951–52<br />
February 1: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force acquired its first general-purpose, high-speed digital<br />
computer, a vacuum-tube-based Univac I.<br />
February 10: Leading a flight <strong>of</strong> three F–86 Sabre jets on a combat air patrol<br />
mission near the Manchurian border, Maj. George A. Davis, Jr.,<br />
engaged 12 enemy MiG–15 jet fighters in aerial combat. After shooting<br />
down two enemy aircraft and completely disrupting the enemy formation,<br />
Major Davis himself was shot down and killed. For engaging<br />
superior forces and shooting down enemy aircraft, he earned the<br />
Medal <strong>of</strong> Honor.<br />
April 15: <strong>The</strong> YB–52, prototype <strong>of</strong> the eight-jet Strat<strong>of</strong>ortress and the first<br />
all-jet intercontinental heavy bomber, flew for the first time.<br />
May 2: <strong>The</strong> British-made DeHavilland Comet, the world’s first jet airliner,<br />
made its first public demonstration flight in London.<br />
May 3: A ski-and-wheel-equipped <strong>USAF</strong> C–47 Skytrain made the world’s first<br />
successful North Pole landing.<br />
June 23–24: <strong>Air</strong> Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft in coordinated<br />
attacks virtually destroyed the hydroelectric power plants <strong>of</strong> North<br />
Korea. <strong>The</strong> two-day operation, involving over 1,200 sorties, was the<br />
largest single air effort since World War II.<br />
July 16–17: With the help <strong>of</strong> aerial refueling, 58 F–84 Thunderjets <strong>of</strong> the<br />
31st Fighter Escort Wing under Col. David C. Schilling completed the<br />
first mass flight <strong>of</strong> jet fighters across the Pacific Ocean. Departing from<br />
Turner <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, Georgia, on July 4, the airplanes stopped at the<br />
islands <strong>of</strong> Oahu, Midway, Wake, Eniwetok, Guam, and Iwo Jima on the<br />
way to Yokota <strong>Air</strong> Base, Japan.<br />
July 29: An RB–45 assigned to the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing completed<br />
the first nonstop jet aircraft flight across the Pacific Ocean. It<br />
flew from Elmendorf <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, Alaska, to Yokota <strong>Air</strong> Base, Japan.<br />
Maj. Louis H. Carrington, Jr., Maj. Frederick W. Shook, and Capt. Wallace<br />
D. Yancey earned the 1952 Mackay Trophy for this flight.<br />
July 31: Two Sikorsky H–19 helicopters completed the first transatlantic helicopter<br />
flight, having flown in five stages from Westover Field, Massachusetts,<br />
to Prestwick, Scotland.<br />
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