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

1953
May 18: Capt. Joseph C. McConnell, Jr., USAF, shot down his 16th enemy
airplane in Korea to become the top ace of the war.
May 25: George Welch, North American test pilot, flew the prototype
YF–100 Super Sabre for the first time, taking off and landing at the Air
Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California.
June 8: At Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, the USAF Thunderbirds, officially
designated the 3600th Air Demonstration Flight, performed for the
first time.
July 11: Maj. John F. Bolt, USMC, flying an F–86 Sabre, became the first
Marine jet ace while on temporary duty with the 51st Fighter-Interceptor
Wing.
July 27: Capt. Ralph S. Parr, Jr., USAF, scored the last aerial victory of the
Korean War by shooting down an Il–2 on the day of the armistice.
August 6: Operation BIG SWITCH began. C–124, C–54, C–46, and C–47
transports airlifted more than 800 former prisoners of war from Korea
to the United States by way of Japan after an armistice that ended the
Korean War. The operation ended in October.
August 20: During Operation LONGSTRIDE, F–84 Thunderjets assigned to
the 31st Strategic Fighter Wing flew from Albany, Georgia, to
Nouasseur Air Base, Morocco. On the same day, 17 F–84 Thunderjets
assigned to the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing flew nonstop 4,485 miles
from Albany to Lakenheath, England. These first nonstop transatlantic
flights by fighters demonstrated Strategic Air Command’s capability
for rapid, long-range deployment, earning the command the
Mackay Trophy.
September 1: The Air Force announced the first in-flight refueling of jetpowered
aircraft by jet-powered aircraft after a KB–47 refueled a standard
B–47 Stratojet.
September 11: The Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missile made its
first successful interception, sending an F–6F drone down in flames.
The missile revolutionized aerial combat, offering pilots a method
other than gunfire for shooting down enemy aircraft.
October 1: The Air Force activated its first airborne early warning and control
squadron, the 4701st, at McClellan Air Force Base, California.
Under Air Defense Command, the squadron, forerunner of today’s
airborne warning and control system units, flew the RC–121 aircraft.
October 14: The X–10, prototype of the North American B–64 Navaho ramjet-propelled
surface-to-surface guided missile, flew for the first time.
75