1.
Fighter aircraft
–
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are designed as dual-purpose fighter-bombers, often aircraft that do not fulfill the standard definition are called fighters. This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, a fighters main purpose is to establish air superiority over a battlefield. Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare, the word fighter did not become the official English-language term for such aircraft until after World War I. In the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force these aircraft were referred to as scouts into the early 1920s, the U. S. Army called their fighters pursuit aircraft from 1916 until the late 1940s. In most languages a fighter aircraft is known as a hunter, exceptions include Russian, where a fighter is an истребитель, meaning exterminator, and Hebrew where it is matose krav. As a part of nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use. In Russia I was used, while the French continue to use C and this has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other fighting scouts of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations but had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons, the F-111B variant was originally intended for a fighter role with the U. S. Navy, but it was cancelled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for attack or strike operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs, versatile multirole fighter-bombers such as the F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having a range of specialized aircraft types. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate, fighters were developed in World War I to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles the ability to gather information by reconnaissance. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were built with a wooden frame, covered with fabric. As control of the airspace over armies became increasingly important all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations, between the wars, wood was largely replaced by steel tubing, then aluminium tubing, and finally aluminium stressed skin structures began to predominate. By World War II, most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of guns or cannons. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the engine was so less than on piston engined fighters. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, in the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for any opposition. Since then, radar capabilities have grown enormously and are now the method of target acquisition
2.
McDonnell Aircraft
–
The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. McDonnell Aircraft later merged with the Douglas Aircraft Company to form McDonnell Douglas in 1967, McDonnell & Associates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1928 to produce a personal aircraft for family use. The economic depression from 1929 ruined his plans and the company collapsed and he went to work for Glenn L. Martin. He left in 1938 to try again with his own firm, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, based near St. Louis, Missouri, world War II was a major boost to the new company. It grew from 15 employees in 1939 to 5,000 at the end the war and became a significant aircraft parts producer, McDonnell also developed the LBD-1 Gargoyle guided missile. McDonnell Aircraft suffered after the war with an end of government orders and a surplus of aircraft, the advent of the Korean War helped push McDonnell into a major military fighter supply role. In 1943, McDonnell began developing jets when they were invited to bid on a US Navy contest, Dave Lewis joined the company as Chief of Aerodynamics in 1946. He led the development of the legendary F-4 Phantom II in 1954, Lewis became Executive Vice President in 1958, and finally became President and Chief Operating Officer in 1962. Lewis went on to manage Douglas Aircraft Division in 1967 after the McDonnell Douglas merger, in 1969, he returned to St. Louis as President of McDonnell Douglas. The company was now a major employer, but was having problems, with no civilian side of the company, every peacetime downturn in procurement led to lean times at McDonnell. McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft began to sound each other out about a merger, inquiries began in 1963, Douglas offered bid invitations from December 1966 and accepted that of McDonnell. The two firms were merged on April 28,1967 as the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. In 1967, with the merger of McDonnell and Douglas Aircraft, Dave Lewis, then president of McDonnell, was named chairman of what was called the Long Beach, Lewis managed the turnaround of the division. McDonnell Douglas would later merge with Boeing in August 1997, boeings defense and space division is based in St. Louis, Missouri, U. S. and is responsible for defense and space products and services. McDonnell Douglass legacy product programs include the F-15 Eagle, AV-8B Harrier II, F/A-18 Hornet, McDonnell, nephew of founder and later President, CEO and Chair of McDonnell Douglas. Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920, McDonnell Aircraft history 1939-45 McDonnell Aircraft history 1946-56 McDonnell Aircraft history 1957-67 McDonnell Gemini Space Program 1963-1966 List of all McDonnell model numbers through 1974
3.
United States Air Force
–
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
4.
Royal Canadian Air Force
–
The Royal Canadian Air Force is the air force of Canada. Its role is to provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower, the RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. Lieutenant-General Michael J. Hood, CMM CD, is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the RCAF is a partner with the United States Air Force in protecting continental airspace under the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The RCAF also provides all primary air resources to and is responsible for the National Search, the RCAF traces its history to the Canadian Air Force which was formed in 1920. The Canadian Air Force was incorporated in 1923 and granted royal sanction in 1924 by King George V, in 1968 the RCAF was amalgamated with the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Canadian Army, as part of the unification of the Canadian Forces. Air units were split between several different commands, Air Defence Command, Air Transport Command, Mobile Command, Maritime Command, in 1975 some commands were dissolved, and all air units were placed under a new environmental command called simply Air Command. Air Command reverted to its name of the Royal Canadian Air Force in August 2011. The Royal Canadian Air Force has served in the Second World War, the Korean War, as a NATO member, the force maintained a presence in Europe during the second half of the 20th century. The Canadian Air Force was established in 1920 as the successor to a short-lived two-squadron Canadian Air Force formed during the First World War in Europe. John Scott Williams, MC, AFC, was tasked in 1921 with organizing the CAF, the new Canadian Air Force was a branch of the Air Board and was chiefly a training militia that provided refresher training to veteran pilots. Many CAF members also worked with the Air Boards Civil Operations Branch on operations that included forestry, in 1923, the CAF became responsible for all flying operations in Canada, including civil aviation. In 1924, the Canadian Air Force, was granted the royal title, most of its work was civil in nature, however, in the late 1920s the RCAF evolved into more of a military organization. After budget cuts in the early 1930s, the air began to rebuild. By the end of the war, the RCAF had become the fourth largest allied air force, after the war, the RCAF reduced its strength. In 1950, the RCAF became involved with the transport of troops and supplies to the Korean War, however, members of the RCAF served in USAF units as exchange officers and several flew in combat. Both auxiliary and regular air defence squadrons were run by Air Defence Command, at the same time, the Pinetree Line, the Mid-Canada Line and the DEW Line radar stations, largely operated by the RCAF, were built across Canada because of the growing Soviet nuclear threat. In 1957, Canada and the United States created the joint North American Air Defense Command, coastal defence and peacekeeping also became priorities during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and this initiative was overseen by then Liberal Defence Minister, Paul Hellyer
5.
United States dollar
–
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
6.
McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo
–
The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twin-engine jet fighter aircraft with swept wings designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered service, its design was adapted for the subsequent supersonic F-101 Voodoo, the XF-88 originated from a 1946 United States Army Air Forces requirement for a long-range penetration fighter to escort bombers to their targets. It was to be essentially a replacement for the wartime North American P-51 Mustang that had escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany. It was to have a radius of 900 mi and high performance. McDonnell began work on the aircraft, dubbed Model 36, on 1 April 1946, on 20 June the company was given a contract for two prototypes designated XP-88. Dave Lewis was Chief of Aerodynamics on this project, the Voodoo had a low/mid-mounted wing, swept to 35°. The two engines, specified as Westinghouse J34 turbojets were in the fuselage, fed by air intakes in the wing roots. This made room in the fuselage for the fuel tanks required for the required long range. The Voodoos short nose had no radar, being intended to house an armament of six 20 mm M39 cannon, the first XF-88 made its maiden flight from Muroc Field on 20 October 1948, piloted by McDonnell Chief Test Pilot Robert Edholm. It was unarmed and powered by non-afterburning J34-13 engines that gave 3,000 lbf thrust, while testing demonstrated adequate handling and the required endurance, the XF-88 proved to be underpowered. This resulted in performance, with its maximum speed of 641 mph being less than the F-86 Sabre. In order to improve performance, it was decided to fit the second prototypes engines with McDonnell-designed afterburners, thus modified, the engines became J34-22s, giving 3,600 lbf thrust. The second prototype, XF-88A, made its flight on 26 April 1949. The afterburners improved the Voodoos performance, with the XF-88A reaching 700 mph, changes in Air Force priorities, together with a shortage of money, led the penetration fighter to be cancelled in August 1950. The first prototype was modified to XF-88B standard, with a nose-mounted Allison T38 turboprop engine added to the turbojets and this was used for flight testing through 1956, and achieved speeds slightly exceeding Mach 1.0, the first propeller-equipped aircraft to do so. McDonnell also proposed a version of the XF-88, a two-seat operational trainer. Both prototypes were scrapped by 1958, United States United States Air Force XF-88 First prototype, powered by 3,000 lbf Westinghouse J34-13 engines. XF-88A Second prototype, fitted with J-34-22 engined with primitive afterburners, First prototype also modified to this standard
7.
McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo
–
The McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo was an all-weather interceptor aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Forces between 1961 and 1984. They were manufactured by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri for the United States Air Force, CF-101s replaced the obsolete Avro CF-100 Canuck in the RCAFs all-weather fighter squadrons. The Voodoos primary armament was nuclear AIR-2A Genie unguided air-to-air rockets, although they never fired a weapon in wartime, the CF-101 served as Canadas primary means of air defence from Quick Reaction Alert facilities at Canadian airbases. The CF-101s were retired in the 1980s and replaced with McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighters, many examples are preserved in museums and parks in Canada and the United States. The USAF indicated that it was prepared to make 56 F-101B interceptors and 10 F-101F trainers available for Canadian purchase. The financial arrangements were sorted out by Canada taking over the staffing and funding of 11 Pinetree Line radar stations within Canada that had formerly been operated and funded by the USAF. A detailed agreement signed in June 1961 covered the transfer of the aircraft, meant to equip five front-line squadrons, the issue of nuclear weapons in Canada had not been resolved in June 1961, thus the CF-101s were armed only with their secondary AIM-4D Falcon missiles. In April 1963, the led to the collapse of the Diefenbaker government. The succeeding Pearson government signed an agreement with the United States concerning nuclear arms for Canada on 16 August 1963, the agreement did not actually state that Canada was acquiring nuclear weapons, the Canadian government usually refused to confirm or deny that there were any nuclear arms in Canada. The stringent training requirements meant that it took until June 1965 for the Genies to become operational in Canada, the Genies were kept in the custody of the USAF, with detachments of the 425th Munitions Support Squadron located at each of the Canadian bases. On 24 July 1961, the first two aircraft were transferred to Canada in a ceremony at RCAF Uplands in Ottawa, marking the beginning of Operation Queen’s Row. 425 Squadron officially began Voodoo operations at RCAF Namao, Alberta, on 15 October 1961, initially acting as the training squadron for 410,416,409. No.425 Squadron then became a unit itself, turning the conversion role over to No.3 All Weather OTU at RCAF Bagotville. By the end of 1962, the squadrons were operating out of RCAF Comox, British Columbia, RCAF North Bay, Ontario, RCAF Uplands, Ottawa, Ontario, RCAF Bagotville, Quebec, defence cuts in 1964 eliminated Nos.410 and 414 Squadrons. Each Voodoo base was out to allow aircraft to be kept at immediate readiness at all times. A Quick Reaction Alert facility was positioned at the end of the runway to allow alert aircraft to launch as quickly as possible. Two aircraft and their crews were always on “five minute” alert — the aircraft were to be in the air, en route to intercept unknown aircraft, in one instance,416 Squadron was able to get two alert aircraft in the air only 57 seconds after receiving the alert. Fortunately, no situation ever arose in which a CF-101 pilot fired his weapons in anger
8.
Supersonic aircraft
–
A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft able to fly faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic aircraft were developed in the half of the twentieth century and have been used almost entirely for research. Only two, Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144, ever entered service for use as airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft, the aerodynamics of supersonic flight is called compressible flow because of the compression associated with the shock waves or sonic boom created by any object travelling faster than sound. Aircraft flying at speeds above Mach 5 are often referred to as hypersonic aircraft, the first aircraft to fly supersonically in level flight was the American Bell X-1 experimental plane which was powered by a 6000-lb thrust rocket powered by liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol. The majority of aircraft have been military or experimental aircraft. In the 1960s and 70s, many design studies for supersonic airliners were done, however political, environmental and economic obstacles and one fatal Concorde crash prevented them from being used to their full commercial potential and these aircraft are no longer flying. Supersonic flight brings with it substantial technical challenges, as the aerodynamics of flight are dramatically different from those of subsonic flight. In particular, aerodynamic drag rises sharply as the passes the transonic regime, requiring much greater engine power. To keep drag low, wing span must be limited, which reduces the aerodynamic efficiency when flying slowly. Since a supersonic aircraft must take off and land at a slow speed. However, swinging affects the longitudinal trim of the aircraft and the mechanism adds weight and cost. Another technique that has used is a delta-wing design, such as used on Concorde. This has the advantage that it can attain a high angle of attack at low speeds, other kinds of wings are the Short thin wing, Sweep back wing and the swept forward wing. Another problem is the heat generated by friction as the air flows over the aircraft, most supersonic designs use aluminium alloys such as Duralumin, which are cheap and easy to work but lose their strength quickly at high temperatures. This limits maximum speed to around Mach 2.2, some early supersonic aircraft, including the first, relied on rocket power to provide the necessary thrust, although rockets burn a lot of fuel and so flight times were short. Early turbojets were more fuel-efficient but did not have enough thrust, the invention of the afterburner, in which extra fuel is burned in the jet exhaust, made these mixed powerplant types obsolete. The turbofan engine passes additional cold air around the core, further increasing its fuel efficiency
9.
Bomber escort
–
The escort fighter was a World War II concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, a number of twin-engined heavy fighters with high fuel capacity were designed for escort duties before World War II. Such heavy fighters largely failed in their intended escort role during the war, as the war progressed, longer-range fighter designs and the use of drop tanks allowed single-engined fighters to perform escort duties. In the post-war era the introduction of jet engines and their inherent short range escort fighters very difficult to build. The related concept of a penetration fighter emerged briefly in the 1950s and again in the 1960s, during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe used Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s based in France as escort fighter-bombers. Flying with the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers, the U. S. Army Air Forces precision strategic bombing campaign against German industries was only possible during the day. At first, this was not seen as an issue, the Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, close formations of them were planned, creating a crossfire of.50 caliber machine-guns that would fend off the enemy with no need for a fighter escort. Hitting a fast-moving fighter with guns in a turret proved extremely difficult, USAAF bomber losses gradually increased, and experimental gunships like the YB-40 did nothing to reduce them. It was not until the introduction of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, able to carry large Lockheed-designed drop tanks, the fighters were able to escort the bombers for much of their missions. The first Allied fighters over Berlin were 55th Fighter Group P-38s on March 3,1944, when the Merlin-powered North American P-51 Mustang was introduced, with a laminar-flow wing for efficiency, the final escort fighter development of the war was complete. The successes of the P-47N and P-51 gave the impression that the fighter was a concept worth continuing after the end of the war. A new concept, the XF-85 Goblin microfighter, planned to act as a fighter for the Convair B-36, was tested with a B-29 Superfortress. Later the FICON project attempted a solution, docking jet fighters with heavy bombers via a trapeze mechanism or their wingtips. In Korea, the F-80 Shooting Star and later the F-86 Sabre escorted B-29 heavy bombers, with the development of guided missiles, particularly surface-to-air missiles, plans for dedicated escort fighters designed to escort nuclear bombers gradually faded from the scene. Missile technology meant that interceptors would rarely engage bombers directly, if ever, as of bombers themselves, the advancement of land and submarine-based ballistic missiles relegated them to a lower importance—they became just a single element of the nuclear triad. In Vietnam for instance, F-4 Phantom IIs and sometimes F-8 Crusaders escorted the American bombers such as B-52 Stratofortresses, F-105 Thunderchiefs, in some cases the missions of F-4 were mixed, when some F-4 were equipped with bombs, and some F-4 acted as escorts. The development of the fighter, such as F/A-18, also decreased the need for escorts. Aerial warfare Interceptor, the adversary of an escort fighter Wild Weasel
10.
Strategic Air Command
–
At a lower echelon, headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U. S. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U. S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan. the reorganization of the Army, SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. S. Air Force as an independent service, kenney, initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force, the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division. In addition to the bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress, was also established, SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviets 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook, the Cold War’s first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic, later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula, followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them, unfortunately, postwar budget and personnel cuts had had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted, as a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SACs eleven groups were combat ready. In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire a share of USAF infrastructure. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF, Maine, fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, Spokane AAF, Washington, and Wendover Field, Utah were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following establishment of the USAF as a service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of
11.
Fighter-bomber
–
A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. Although still used, the term fighter-bomber has less significance since the introduction of rockets, modern aircraft with similar duties are now typically called multirole combat aircraft or strike fighters. Prior to World War II, general limitations in available engine, engine power grew dramatically during the early period of the war, roughly doubling between 1939 and 1943. It had two Bristol Mercury XV radial engines of 920 hp each, a crew of three, and its payload was just 1,200 lbs of bombs. The Blenheim suffered disastrous losses over France in 1939 when it encountered Messerschmitt Bf 109s, in contrast, the Vought F4U Corsair fighter — which entered service in December 1942 — had in common with its eventual U. S. With less airframe and crew to lift, the Corsairs ordnance load was either four High Velocity Aircraft Rockets or 2,000 lbs of bombs, increased engine power meant that many existing fighter designs could carry useful bomb loads, and adapt to the fighter-bomber role. Notable examples include the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Hawker Typhoon and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, larger twin-engined aircraft were also used in the fighter-bomber role, especially where longer ranges were needed for naval strikes. Examples include the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Bristol Beaufighter, the Beaufighter MkV had a Boulton-Paul turret with four 0.303 in machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit but only two were built. Bristols Blenheim was even pushed into service as a fighter during the Battle of Britain, equipped with an early Airborne Interception radar set, however, it proved to be an effective night fighter. The first single seat fighters to drop bombs were on the Western Front, when fighter patrols were issued with bombs and ordered to drop them at random if they met no German fighters. The Sopwith Camel, the most successful Allied aircraft of the First World War with 1,294 enemy aircraft downed, was losing its edge by 1918, the Royal Aircraft Factory S. E.5. was used in the same role. The Royal Flying Corps received the first purpose-built fighter-bomber just as the war was ending and it was not called a fighter bomber at the time, but a Trench Fighter as that was what it was designed to attack. The Sopwith Salamander was based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter but had armour plating in the nose to protect the pilot, originally it was intended to have two machine guns jutting through the cockpit floor so as to spray trenches with bullets as it passed low overhead. But this did not work and it was fitted with four Cooper bombs and it was ordered in very large numbers, but most were cancelled after the Armistice. In February and April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps conducted bombing tests at Orfordness, both WW1 fighter bombers were used with novice and experienced pilots. Best results were achieved with a dive into the wind using the Aldis Sight to align the aircraft. But they were not considered enough to justify the expected casualty rate. When war broke out in Europe, Western Allied Air Forces employed light twin-engined bombers in the role for low level attack
12.
Tactical Air Command
–
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its personnel and equipment absorbed by Air Combat Command. Tactical Air Command was established to provide a balance between strategic, air defense, and tactical forces of the post–World War II U. S. Army Air Forces followed by, in 1947, the U. S. Air Force. In 1948, the Continental Air Command assumed control over air defense, tactical air, after two years in a subordinate role, Tactical Air Command was established as a major command. World War II showed the effectiveness of air power in supporting army ground forces. However, the demobilization in late 1945 meant that the huge air armada that had brought Germany to her knees. Following the end of World War II, Headquarters United States Army Air Forces had little funding and most wartime personnel had been released from active duty and returned to civilian life. Many USAAF aircraft were being sent to storage or scrapyards, although the tension with the Soviet Union meant that combat military air forces were still needed. The big questions were how large and what kind of forces, a major realignment of the USAAF was undertaken in early 1946. As part of the realignment, three major divisions within the Continental United States were formed, Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command. Each was given a specific responsibility, using assets prescribed to accomplish the assigned mission, Tactical Air Command was formed to command, organize, equip, train and administer assigned or attached forces. It was to plan for and participate in tactics for fighter, light bombardment and these included tactical fighters, tactical bombers, tactical missiles, troop carrier aircraft, assault, reconnaissance, and support units. TAC also planned for and developed the capability to deploy tactical striking forces anywhere in the world, during its existence, Tactical Air Command deployed personnel, material and/or aircraft to Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia in support of its prescribed mission. TACs original authorization was 25,500 officers and enlisted men, aircraft assets available consisted of propeller-driven North American P-51 Mustangs, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and a handful of the new jet-powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars. TAC was also given control of the Third Air Force, Ninth Air Force, on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force was established as a separate military force, with TAC as one of its major commands. At the time, there was only one U. S. Air Forces in Europe tactical air unit available in Europe, TAC was called upon to send additional units and aircraft to Europe to reinforce the 86 FG. The 36th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed F-80B Shooting Stars, was transferred from Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone to Furstenfeldbruck Air Base near Munich. In addition to fighter aircraft, TAC also deployed available C-47 Skytrain transports to Europe, transferring them to USAFE
13.
Reconnaissance aircraft
–
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned or unmanned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance. Their roles are to collect intelligence, signals intelligence, and measurement. During the Napoleonic Wars and Franco-Prussian War, balloons were used for reconnaissance by the French. In World War I, aircraft were deployed during the phases in reconnaissance roles to aid ground forces. Aerial reconnaissance was carried out by versions of standard fighters and bombers equipped with cameras. Today, much of the role has passed over to satellites. This was proven by the use by Israel and by the Desert Storm operation by the United States. King Hawes, Lt Col, USAF Bonnier Corporation, army-Lockheed YO-3A Silent Airplane in Vietnam
14.
Interceptor aircraft
–
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent successful missions by enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. For daytime operations, conventional fighters normally fill the interceptor role, few aircraft can be considered dedicated daytime interceptors. Night fighters and bomber destroyers are, by definition, interceptors of the heavy type, examples of classic interceptors of this era include the F-106 Delta Dart, Sukhoi Su-15 and English Electric Lightning. Dedicated interceptor designs became rare, with the widely used examples designed after the 1960s being the Tornado F3, Mikoyan MiG-25 Foxbat. The first dedicated interceptor squadrons were formed up during World War I in order to defend London against attacks by Zeppelins, early units generally used aircraft withdrawn from front-line service, notably the Sopwith Pup. They were told about their targets prior to take-off from a centralized command center in the Horse Guards building. The Pup proved to have too low performance to intercept the Gotha G. IV bombers. Before Second World War started, offensive bomber speeds had improved so much that it appeared that the mission would be effectively impossible. The visual and acoustic detection had a range on the order of a few miles. This could be addressed by a cover of aircraft. The conclusion at the time was that the bomber will always get through, the introduction of radar upset this equation. Radar was able to detect aircraft at long range, on the order of 100 miles even for early systems and this provided enough time for fighters to start up, climb to altitude and chase down their targets. The introduction of jet power increased speeds from perhaps 200 miles per hour to 600 miles per hour in a single step, although radars also improved in performance, the gap between offense and defense was dramatically reduced. Large attacks could so confuse the defenses ability to communicate information to the pilots that the method of manual ground controlled interception was increasingly seen as inadequate. In the United States, this led to the introduction of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment to computerize this task. In the 1950s, during the Cold War, an interceptor force was crucial for the great powers. Hence for a period of time they faced rapid development. Thus, the doctrine of mutually assured destruction replaced the trend of defense strengthening and their utility waned as the role became blurred into the role of the heavy air superiority fighters dominant in military thinking at the time
15.
AIM-4 Falcon
–
The Hughes AIM-4 Falcon was the first operational guided air-to-air missile of the United States Air Force. Development began in 1946, the weapon was first tested in 1949, the missile entered service with the USAF in 1956. Produced in both heat-seeking and radar-guided versions, the missile served during the Vietnam War with USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II units, designed to shoot down slow bombers with limited maneuverability, it was ineffective against maneuverable fighters over Vietnam. Lacking proximity fusing, the missile would only detonate if a hit was scored. The Sidewinder was much more effective and continues to serve the forces of the United States. Development of a guided air-to-air missile began in 1946, Hughes Aircraft was awarded a contract for a subsonic missile under the project designation MX-798, which soon gave way to the supersonic MX-904 in 1947. The original purpose of the weapon was as a weapon for bomber aircraft. The first test firings took place in 1949, at time it was designated AAM-A-2. A brief policy of awarding fighter and bomber designations to missiles led it to be redesignated F-98 in 1951, in 1955, the policy changed again, and the missile was again redesignated GAR-1. The initial GAR-1 and GAR-2 models entered service in 1956 and it armed the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, McDonnell F-101B Voodoo and Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart interceptors. The only other users were Canada, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, whose CF-101 Voodoo, Saab 35 Draken, Canada also hoped to use them on the Avro CF-105 Arrow interceptor, however, this was never realized because of the Arrows cancellation. Fighters carrying the Falcon were often designed with internal weapons bays for carrying this missile, the Scorpion carried them on wingtip pods, while the Delta Dagger and Delta Dart had belly bays with a trapeze mechanism to move them into the airstream for launch. The F-101B had an unusual bay arrangement where two were stored externally, and then the bay door would rotate to expose two more missiles, the GAR-1 had semi-active radar homing, giving a range of about 5 mi. It was replaced in production by the GAR-1D, with control surfaces. About 12,000 of this variant were produced, the production version of the SARH Falcon. The GAR-2 was a heat-seeker, generally limited to rear-aspect engagements, as would also be Soviet practice, it was common to fire the weapon in salvos of both types to increase the chances of a hit. The GAR-2 was about 1.5 in longer and 16 lb heavier than its SARH counterpart and it was replaced in production by the GAR-2A, with a more sensitive infrared seeker. A total of about 26,000 of the infrared-homing Falcons were built, all of the early Falcons had a small 7.6 lb warhead, limiting their lethal radius
16.
AIR-2 Genie
–
The Douglas AIR-2 Genie was an unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. It was deployed by the United States Air Force and Canada during the Cold War, production ended in 1962 after over 3000 were made, with some related training and test derivatives being produced later. The interception of Soviet strategic bombers was a major preoccupation of the late 1940s and 1950s. The World War II-age fighter armament of guns and cannon were inadequate to stop attacks by massed formations of high-speed bombers. Firing large volleys of unguided rockets into bomber formations was not much better, in 1954 Douglas Aircraft began a program to investigate the possibility of a nuclear-armed air-to-air weapon. To ensure simplicity and reliability, the weapon would be unguided, the resultant weapon carried a 1. 5-kiloton W25 nuclear warhead and was powered by a Thiokol SR49-TC-1 solid-fuel rocket engine of 162 kN thrust. It had a range of slightly under 10 km, targeting, arming, and firing of the weapon were coordinated by the launch aircrafts fire-control system. Detonation was by time-delay fuze, although the mechanism would not arm the warhead until engine burn-out, to give the launch aircraft sufficient time to turn. Lethal radius of the blast was estimated to be about 300 metres, the first test firings of inert rounds took place in 1956, and the weapon entered service with the designation MB-1 in 1957. The popular name was Genie, but it was often nicknamed Ding-Dong, about 3,150 rounds were produced before production ended in 1963. In 1962 the weapon was redesignated AIR-2A Genie, many rounds were upgraded with improved, longer-duration rocket motors, the upgraded weapons sometimes known as AIR-2B. An inert training round, originally MB-1-T and later ATR-2A, was produced in small numbers. A live Genie was detonated only once, in Operation Plumbbob on 19 July 1957 and it was fired by AF Captain Eric William Hutchison and AF Captain Alfred C. Barbee flying an F-89J over Yucca Flats, sources vary as to the height of the blast, but it was between 18,500 and 20,000 ft above mean sea level. A group of five USAF officers volunteered to stand hatless in their light summer uniforms underneath the blast to prove that the weapon was safe for use over populated areas and they were photographed by Department of Defense photographer George Yoshitake who stood there with them. Gamma and neutron doses received by observers on the ground were negligible, doses received by aircrew were highest for the fliers assigned to penetrate the airburst cloud ten minutes after explosion. The Genie was cleared to be carried on the F-89 Scorpion, F-101B Voodoo, F-106 Delta Dart, a trapeze launcher was fitted beneath a Starfighter, but it was never carried in operational service. Convair offered an upgrade of the F-102 Delta Dagger that would have been Genie-capable, operational use of the Genie was discontinued in 1988 with the retirement of the F-106 interceptor
17.
Aerospace Defense Command
–
Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Forces, responsible for continental air defence. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980 and its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to air defense of the Continental United States. It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense, the air districts established on 16 January 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack. The four air districts also handled USAAF combat training with the Army Ground Forces and organization and training of bomber, fighter and other units, the USAAFs Aircraft Warning Corps provided air defense warning with information centers that networked an areas Army Radar Stations which communicated radar tracks by telephone. The AWC information centers also integrated visual reports processed by Ground Observer Corps filter centers, AWC information centers notified air defense command posts of the 4 continental air forces for deploying interceptor aircraft which used command guidance for ground-controlled interception. The USAAF inactivated the aircraft warning network in April 1944, Continental Air Forces was activated on 12 December 1944 with the four Air Forces as components to consolidate the CONUS air defense mission under one command. The Continental Air Forces reorganization began in 1945, when ground radar, the Distant Early Warning Line was first conceived—and rejected—in 1946. By 1948 there were only 5 AC&W stations, including the Twin Lights station in NJ that opened in June and Montauk NY Air Warning Station #3 --cf. SAC radar stations, e. g. at Dallas & Denver Bomb Plots. By the time ADC was inactivated on 1 July 1950, ADC had deployed the Lashup Radar Network with existing radars at 43 sites, in addition,36 Air National Guard fighter units were called to active duty for the mission. ADC was reinstated as a command on 1 January 1951 at Mitchel Air Force Base. The headquarters was moved to Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs on 8 January 1951 and it received 21 former ConAC active-duty fighter squadrons. ADC was also assigned the 25th, 26th 27th and 28th Air Divisions ADC completed the Priority Permanent System network for Aircraft Warning, gaps were filled by additional Federal Aviation Administration radar stations and the Ground Observation Corps. During the mid-1950s, planners devised the idea of extending the wall of powerful land-based radar seaward with Airborne early warning, the RC-121s, EC-121s and Texas Towers, it was believed, would contribute to extending contiguous east-coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of the air threat of the 1950s, this meant a gain of at least 30 extra minutes warning time of a bomber attack. ADCs Operation Tail Wind on 11–12 July tested its augmentation plan that required Air Training Command interceptors participate in an air defense emergency, a total of seven ATC bases actively participated in the exercise, deploying aircraft and aircrews and supporting the ADC radar net. As the USAF prepared to deploy the Tactical Air Command E-3 Sentry in the later 1970s, all remaining EC-121s were transferred to the Air Force Reserve, which formed the 79th AEWCS at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida in early 1976. Besides monitoring Cuban waters, these last Warning Stars also operated from NAS Keflavik, final EC-121 operations ended in September 1978
18.
Air National Guard
–
When Air National Guard units are used under the jurisdiction of the state governor they are fulfilling their militia role. However, if federalized by order of the President of the United States and they are jointly administered by the states and the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the Army and Air Force that oversees the National Guard of the United States. The ANG of the territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands have no aircraft assigned, ANG units typically operate under Title 32 USC. However, when operating under Title 10 USC all ANG units are operationally-gained by an active duty USAF major command. ANG units of the Combat Air Forces based in the Continental United States, conversely, CONUS-based ANG units in the Mobility Air Forces, plus the Puerto Rico ANGs airlift wing and the Virgin Islands ANGs civil engineering squadron are gained by the Air Mobility Command. The vast majority of ANG units fall under either ACC or AMC, established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U. S. S. When not in a status, the Air National Guard operates under their respective state. The exception to rule is the District of Columbia Air National Guard. Because both state Air National Guard and the Air National Guard of the United States relatively go hand-in-hand, Air National Guard of the United States units or members may be called up for federal active duty in times of Congressionally sanctioned war or national emergency. The United States Air National Guard has about 110,000 men and women in service, even traditional part-time air guardsmen, especially pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, air battle managers and enlisted aircrew, often serve 100 or more man-days annually. As such, the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only one weekend a month, the Georgia Air National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard previously flew the B-1B Lancer prior to converting to the E-8 Joint STARS and KC-135R Stratotanker, respectively. In addition, the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard transitioned from flying the F-15C/D Eagle at St and these proposals were eventually overruled and cancelled by the U. S. Congress. As state militia units, the units in the Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command and they are under the jurisdiction of the United States National Guard Bureau unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. Air National Guard units are trained and equipped by the United States Air Force, the state ANG units, depending on their mission, are operationally gained by a major command of the USAF if federalized. Air National Guard personnel are expected to adhere to the moral and physical standards as their full-time active duty Air Force. The same ranks and insignia of the U. S. Air Force are used by the Air National Guard, the Air National Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in a service members home state or equivalent. The creation of the regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians. This organization formed the basis of subsequent colonial and, post-independence, state and this distinction accounts for why there are no National Guard components in the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps or U. S. Coast Guard
19.
Lockheed U-2
–
It provides day and night, high-altitude, all-weather intelligence gathering. The U-2 has also used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration. Early versions of the U-2 were involved in several events through the Cold War, being flown over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, in 1960, Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile. Another U-2, piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. was lost in a fashion during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The U-2 is one of a handful of types to have served the USAF for over 50 years. The newest models entered service in the 1980s, the current model, the U-2S, received its most recent technical upgrade in 2012. They have taken part in post–Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, after World War II, the U. S. military desired better strategic aerial reconnaissance to help determine Soviet capabilities and intentions. Richard Leghorn of the USAF suggested that an aircraft that could fly at 60,000 feet should be safe from the MiG-17, the Soviet Unions best interceptor, which could barely reach 45,000 feet. He and others believed that Soviet radar, which used American equipment provided during the war, the highest-flying aircraft available to America and its allies at the time was the English Electric Canberra, which could reach 48,000 feet. Air Research and Development Command mandated design changes made the aircraft more durable for combat. The Soviet Union, unlike the United States and Britain, had improved radar technology after the war and it was thought that an aircraft that could fly at 70,000 feet would be beyond the reach of Soviet fighters, missiles, and radar. Another USAF officer, John Seaberg, wrote a request for proposal in 1953 for an aircraft that could reach 70,000 feet over a target with 1,500 nmi of operational radius. The USAF decided to solicit designs only from smaller companies that could give the project more attention. Under the code name Bald Eagle, it contracts to Bell Aircraft, Martin Aircraft. Officials at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation heard about the project and decided to submit an unsolicited proposal, to save weight and increase altitude, Lockheed executive John Carter suggested that the design eliminate landing gear and avoid attempting to meet combat load factors for the airframe. The company asked Clarence Kelly Johnson to come up such a design. Johnson was Lockheeds best aeronautical engineer, responsible for the P-38 and he was also known for completing projects ahead of schedule, working in a separate division of the company, informally called the Skunk Works. Johnsons design, named CL-282, was based on the Lockheed XF-104 with long, slender wings, the design was powered by the General Electric J73 engine and took off from a special cart and landed on its belly
20.
Vought F-8 Crusader
–
The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955. The F-8 served principally in the Vietnam War, the Crusader was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon, earning it the title The Last of the Gunfighters. The RF-8 Crusader was a development and operated longer in U. S. service than any of the fighter versions. RF-8s played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing essential low-level photographs impossible to acquire by other means. U. S. Naval Reserve units continued to operate the RF-8 until 1987, in September 1952, the United States Navy announced a requirement for a new fighter. It was to have a top speed of Mach 1.2 at 30,000 ft with a rate of 25,000 ft/min. Korean War experience had demonstrated that 0.50 inch machine guns were no longer sufficient, in response, the Vought team led by John Russell Clark, created the V-383. Unusual for a fighter, the aircraft had a wing which necessitated the use of a fuselage-mounted short. The Crusader was powered by a Pratt and Whitney J57 turbojet engine, the engine was equipped with an afterburner that, unlike on later engines, was either fully lit, or off. The engine produced 18,000 lb of thrust at full power, the Crusader was the first jet fighter in US service to reach 1,000 mph, U. S. Navy pilot R. W. Windsor reached 1,015 mph on a flight in 1956. The most innovative aspect of the design was the wing which pivoted by 7° out of the fuselage on takeoff. This allowed a greater angle of attack, increasing lift without compromising forward visibility and this innovation helped the F-8s development team win the Collier Trophy in 1956. Simultaneously, the lift was augmented by leading-edge slats drooping by 25°, the armament, as specified by the Navy, consisted primarily of four 20 mm autocannon, the Crusader happened to be the last U. S. fighter designed with guns as its primary weapon. They were supplemented with a tray with 32 unguided Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket. Vought also presented a tactical reconnaissance version of the called the V-392. In May 1953, the Vought design was declared a winner and in June, the first prototype flew on 25 March 1955 with John Konrad at the controls. The aircraft exceeded the speed of sound during its maiden flight, the development was so trouble-free that the second prototype, along with the first production F8U-1, flew on the same day,30 September 1955. On 4 April 1956, the F8U-1 performed its first catapult launch from Forrestal, in parallel with the F8U-1s and -2s, the Crusader design team was also working on a larger aircraft with ever greater performance, internally designated as the V-401
21.
Cuban Missile Crisis
–
The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. An agreement was reached during a meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer. The 1962 midterm elections were under way in the United States and these missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missile facilities. The United States established a blockade to prevent further missiles from reaching Cuba. It announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba, after a long period of tense negotiations, an agreement was reached between U. S. President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev. Secretly, the United States also agreed that it would dismantle all U. S. -built Jupiter MRBMs, when all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers had been withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20,1962. The negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union pointed out the necessity of a quick, clear, as a result, the Moscow–Washington hotline was established. A series of sharply reduced U. S. –Soviet tensions during the following years. The United States had been embarrassed publicly by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961, afterward, former President Eisenhower told Kennedy that the failure of the Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets to do something that they would otherwise not do. U. S. covert operations against Cuba continued in 1961 with the similarly unsuccessful Operation Mongoose, in addition, Khrushchevs impression of Kennedys weakness was confirmed by the Presidents response during the Berlin Crisis of 1961, particularly to the building of the Berlin Wall. He also told his son Sergei that on Cuba, Kennedy would make a fuss, make more of a fuss, CIA agents or pathfinders from the Special Activities Division were to be infiltrated into Cuba to carry out sabotage and organization, including radio broadcasts. When Kennedy ran for president in 1960, one of his key election issues was a missile gap with the Soviets leading. In fact, the U. S. led the Soviets by a margin that would only increase. In 1961, the Soviets had only four intercontinental ballistic missiles, by October 1962, they may have had a few dozen, with some intelligence estimates as high as 75. The U. S. on the hand, had 170 ICBMs and was quickly building more. It also had eight George Washington– and Ethan Allen–class ballistic missile submarines with the capability to launch 16 Polaris missiles each, the Soviet Union did have medium-range ballistic missiles in quantity, about 700 of them, however, these were very unreliable and inaccurate. The U. S. had an advantage in total number of nuclear warheads at the time. The U. S. also led in missile defensive capabilities, naval and air power, Khrushchev faced a strategic situation where the U. S. was perceived to have a splendid first strike capability that put the Soviet Union at a huge disadvantage
22.
Vietnam War
–
It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
23.
North American Aerospace Defense Command
–
Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/United States Northern Command center are located at Peterson Air Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center, the NORAD commander and deputy commander are, respectively, a United States four-star general or equivalent and a Canadian three-star general or equivalent. CINCNORAD maintains the NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, with an accurate picture of any aerospace or maritime threat. S. Both the CONR and CANR regions are divided into eastern and western sectors, ANR is supported by both active duty and reserve units. Active duty forces are provided by 11 AF and the Canadian Armed Forces, both 11 AF and the CAF provide active duty personnel to the ROCC to maintain continuous surveillance of Alaskan airspace. Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters is at CFB Winnipeg, Manitoba and it was established on 22 April 1983. It is responsible for providing surveillance and control of Canadian airspace, the Royal Canadian Air Force provides alert assets to NORAD. CANR is divided into two sectors, which are designated as the Canada East Sector and Canada West Sector, both Sector Operations Control Centers are co-located at CFB North Bay Ontario. The routine operation of the SOCCs includes reporting track data, sensor status, in 1996 CANR was renamed 1 Canadian Air Division and moved to CFB Winnipeg. Canadian air defense forces assigned to NORAD include 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta and 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Bagotville, All squadrons fly the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. Any aircraft that has not filed a flight plan may be directed to land and be inspected by RCMP, the Continental NORAD Region is the component of NORAD that provides airspace surveillance and control and directs air sovereignty activities for the Contiguous United States. CONR is the NORAD designation of the United States Air Force First Air Force/AFNORTH and its headquarters is located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The First Air Force became responsible for the USAF air defense mission on 30 September 1990, AFNORTH is the United States Air Force component of United States Northern Command. 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH comprises State Air National Guard Fighter Wings assigned an air mission to 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH. The primary weapons systems are the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft and it plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and ensures air sovereignty and provides for the unilateral defense of the United States. In its role as the CONUS NORAD Region,1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH also performs counter-drug surveillance operations, NORAD was recommended by the Joint Canadian-U. S. The 1958 international agreement designated the NORAD commander always be a United States officer, agreed the commands primary purpose would be…early warning and defense for SACs retaliatory forces. The RCAFs 1950 ground observer system, the Long Range Air Raid Warning System, was discontinued and on 31 January 1959, the United States Ground Observer Corps was deactivated
24.
McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet
–
The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet is a Royal Canadian Air Force fighter aircraft, based on the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New Fighter Aircraft Project competition, the Canadian Forces began receiving the CF-18 in 1982. CF-18s were also part of the Canadian contribution to the Military intervention against ISIL, in 1977, the Canadian government identified the need to replace the NATO-assigned CF-104 Starfighter, the NORAD-assigned CF-101 Voodoo and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter. Subsequently, the government proceeded with the New Fighter Aircraft competition, the government stressed that the winner of the competition be a proven off-the-shelf design and provide substantial industrial benefits as part of the order. By 1978, the New Fighter Aircraft competitors were short-listed to just three aircraft types, the F-16 and the two F-18 offerings, the F-14, F-15, and the Tornado were rejected due to their high purchase price, while Dassault dropped out of the competition. The F-18L combined the systems and twin-engine layout of the F-18 that Air Command favored with a lighter land-based equipment setup that significantly improved performance. Northrop, the contractor for the F-18L version, had not built the aircraft by the time of the NFA program. While Northrop offered the best industrial offset package, it would pay off if other F-18L orders were forthcoming, something the Department of National Defence was not willing to bet on. The F-14 almost entered Canadian service through the due to the Iranian Revolution. The Canadians offered to them at a steeply discounted price. Negotiations ended before a deal was reached as it was revealed that Canadian involvement was crucial in the smuggling of American embassy personnel out of the new Islamic Republic, in 1980, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was declared the winner of the New Fighter Aircraft competition. The order included 98 single-seat variants and 40 dual-seat variants, for a total of 138 purchased, the F/A-18 Hornet was then dubbed the CF-188. In every context except the most official of military documents, the aircraft are referred to as CF-18 Hornets, the CF-18 was procured from 1982 to 1988, at a total capital cost of $4 billion in 1982 dollars. The original CF-18 as delivered is largely identical to the F/A-18A,80 CF-18s, consisting of 62 single-seat and 18 dual-seat models. Many features that made the F/A-18 suitable for carrier operations were retained by the Canadian Forces, such as the robust landing gear, the arrestor hook. The most visible difference between a CF-18 and a U. S. F-18 is the 0.6 Mcd night identification light and this spotlight is mounted in the gun loading door on the port side of the aircraft. Some CF-18s have the light temporarily removed, but the window is always in place, also, the underside of the CF-18 features a painted false canopy. This is intended to disorient and confuse an enemy in air-to-air combat
25.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
–
It first entered service in 1960 with the U. S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was adopted by the U. S. Marine Corps and the U. S. Air Force. The Phantom is a fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for performance, including an absolute speed record. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U. S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U. S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the aircraft used by both U. S. flight demonstration teams, the USAF Thunderbirds and the US Navy Blue Angels. The F-4 was also operated by the forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with five countries, Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. The F-4 is currently used by Greece, Iran, Japan, South Korea and it has been recently used in combat against the Islamic State. In 1952, McDonnells Chief of Aerodynamics, Dave Lewis, was appointed by CEO Jim McDonnell to be the preliminary design manager. With no new aircraft competitions on the horizon, internal studies concluded the Navy had the greatest need for a new and different aircraft type, in 1953, McDonnell Aircraft began work on revising its F3H Demon naval fighter, seeking expanded capabilities and better performance. The company developed several projects including a variant powered by a Wright J67 engine, the J79-powered version promised a top speed of Mach 1.97. On 19 September 1953, McDonnell approached the United States Navy with a proposal for the Super Demon, the Navy was sufficiently interested to order a full-scale mock-up of the F3H-G/H, but felt that the upcoming Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 already satisfied the need for a supersonic fighter. On 26 May 1955, four Navy officers arrived at the McDonnell offices and, within an hour, because the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for ground attack and F-8 Crusader for dogfighting, the project now had to fulfill the need for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor
26.
McDonnell F3H Demon
–
The McDonnell F3H Demon was a subsonic swept-wing United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, the Demon was redesigned with the J71 engine after severe problems with the Westinghouse J40 engine that was part of the original design but ultimately abandoned. It was withdrawn before it could serve in Vietnam when both it and the Crusader were replaced on Forrestal-class and similar supercarriers by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. McDonnells Phantom, which was capable against ground, fighter and bomber targets, bears a strong family resemblance. The supersonic United States Air Force F-101 Voodoo was similar in layout, but was derived from the earlier XF-88 Voodoo, development work began in 1949, using a swept wing from the start rather than adapting a straight-winged design as was done with the Grumman F9F Panther. A competing contract was awarded for the delta wing Douglas F4D Skyray. The Skyray, with a top speed of 722 mph, would become the Navys first fighter to fly supersonic in level flight, while the Demon would never reach that level of performance. Departing from its tradition of using two engines, the Demon would be McDonnells only single-engined carrier-based fighter, adopting under some Navy pressure, the Westinghouse J40 engine. That engine was being promoted by the Navy for its generation of aircraft. It was the first swept-wing design produced by McDonnell and among the first U. S. aircraft to have missile armament, the Navy desperately needed a high performance fighter to meet the challenge of the swept-wing MiG-15 encountered over Korea. Production of the F3H-1N was hastily ordered even before the first flight of the XF3H-1 prototype on 7 August 1951 by test pilot Robert Edholm, the first test flights of the operational design did not occur until January 1953, when the Korean War was winding down. The F3H Demon was originally designed around Navys ambitious new Westinghouse J40 which was to offer enough power to use just one engine in a number of new aircraft designs, but the engine would ultimately fail to produce the promised thrust or run reliably. The engine was a disappointment, producing only half of the expected power. Worse, it was temperamental and unreliable, of 35 F3H-1N aircraft flown with the J40 engine, eight were involved in major accidents. The first production Demons were grounded after the loss of six aircraft, time magazine called the Navys grounding of all Westinghouse-powered F3H-1 Demons a fiasco, with 21 unflyable planes that could be used only for Navy ground training at a loss of $200 million. One high point of the J40 was the 1955 setting of an unofficial record, in a Demon. The proposed F3H-1P reconnaissance version was never built, the J40 program was terminated sometime in 1955. All the aircraft it was to power were either canceled or redesigned to use other engines, notably the J57, the F4D Skyray had been designed to accept larger engines in case the J40 did not work out, and was eventually powered by the Pratt & Whitney J57
27.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
28.
North American P-51 Mustang
–
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, the Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force. Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design, the prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940,102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine and it was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustangs performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, the P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft, despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbird and air racing aircraft, in April 1940 the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given responsibility for Royal Air Force production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman. Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was limited, as no U. S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply, North American Aviation was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President Dutch Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have an aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. In March 1940,320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The NA-73X, which was designed by a led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and these airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, the other feature was a new cooling arrangement that reduced the cooling drag. It was later discovered that, after lot of development, the assembly could take advantage of the Meredith Effect
29.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
–
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the air corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, the B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The B-17 also participated to an extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II. From its prewar inception, the USAAC promoted the aircraft as a weapon, it was a relatively fast, high-flying. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base, the B-17 developed a reputation as an effective bomber, dropping more bombs than any other U. S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany, in addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. As of May 2015, ten aircraft remain airworthy, none of them are combat veterans. Dozens more are in storage or on static display, the oldest of these is a D-series veteran of combat in the Pacific and the Caribbean. On 8 August 1934, the U. S. Army Air Corps tendered a proposal for a bomber to replace the Martin B-10. The air corps was looking for a capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama. Requirements were that it would carry a useful bombload at an altitude of 10,000 ft for ten hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph. They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000 mi, the competition for the air corps contract would be decided by a fly-off between Boeings design, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin Model 146 at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. The prototype B-17, with the Boeing factory designation of Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells and it combined features of the experimental Boeing XB-15 bomber with the Boeing 247 transport aircraft. The B-17s armament consisted of up to 4,800 lb of bombs on two racks in the bay behind the cockpit, and initially possessed five.30 caliber machine guns. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines each producing 750 hp at 7,000 ft, the first flight of the Model 299 was on 28 July 1935 with Boeing chief test-pilot Leslie Tower at the controls. Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times, coined the name Flying Fortress with his comment, Why, when the Model 299 was rolled out bristling with multiple machine gun installations. The most unusual gun emplacement was the installation which allowed the single machine gun to be fired toward almost any frontal angle
30.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
–
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some models were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s. At its inception, the B-24 was a design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted. The wing gave the Liberator a high speed, long range. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine, however, the type was difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance. It also had a ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24, the B-24 was used extensively in World War II. It served in every branch of the American armed forces, as well as several Allied air forces and navies, along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, long range anti-submarine Liberators played an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic Gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The C-87 transport derivative served as a range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The B-24 was produced in large numbers. At the end of World War II, the Liberator had been surpassed by more modern types such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was rapidly phased out of US service, although the PB4Y-2 Privateer derivative carried on in service with the US Navy in the Korean War. Two B-24s, one LB-30B and one Liberator V representing a B-24H, are airworthy as of 2016, the Liberator originated from a United States Army Air Corps request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. After company executives including President Reuben Fleet visited the Boeing factory in Seattle, Washington and this new fuselage was intentionally designed around twin bomb bays, each one being the same size and capacity of the B-17 bomb bays. In January 1939, the USAAC, under Specification C-212, formally invited Consolidated to submit a design study for a bomber with longer range, higher speed, the specification was written such that the Model 32 would automatically be the winning design. The program was run under the group, Project A. Although the B-24 did not meet Project A goals, it was a step in that direction, Project A led to the development of the Boeing B-29 and Consolidateds own B-32 and B-36. The B-24 had a shoulder mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing and this wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range
31.
Westinghouse J34
–
The Westinghouse J34, company designation Westinghouse 24C, was a turbojet engine developed by Westinghouse Aviation Gas Turbine Division in the late 1940s. Essentially an enlarged version of the earlier Westinghouse J30, the J34 produced 3,000 pounds of thrust, later models produced as much as 4,900 lb with the addition of an afterburner. The J46 engine was developed as a larger, more powerful version of Westinghouses J34 engine, built in an era of rapidly advancing gas turbine engine technology, the J34 was largely obsolete before it saw service, and often served as an interim engine. For instance, the Douglas X-3 Stiletto was equipped with two J34 engines when the intended Westinghouse J46 engine proved to be unsuitable, the Stiletto was developed to investigate the design of an aircraft at sustained supersonic speeds. However, equipped with the J34 instead of its engines, it was seriously underpowered
32.
Edwards AFB, California
–
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, located approximately 22 miles northeast of Lancaster and 15 miles east of Rosamond. It operates the U. S. Air Force Test Pilot School and is home to NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center, previously known as Muroc Air Force Base, Edwards AFB is named in honor of Captain Glen Edwards. Edwards became a test pilot in 1943 and spent much of his time at Muroc Army Air Field, on Californias high desert and he died in the crash of a Northrop YB-49 flying wing near Muroc AFB on 5 June 1948. The base is next to Rogers Dry Lake, an endorheic salt pan whose hard dry lake surface provides a natural extension to Edwards runways. This large landing area, combined with excellent year-round weather, makes the good for flight testing. The lake is a National Historic Landmark, the base has played a significant role in the development of virtually every aircraft to enter the Air Force inventory since World War II. Almost every United States military aircraft since the 1950s has been at least partially tested at Edwards, the Wing also oversees the base’s day-to-day operations and provides support for military, federal civilian, and contract personnel assigned to Edwards AFB. 412th Operations Group. There are eight flight test squadrons under the 412th Operations Group with as many as 20 aircraft assigned to each, the 412 OS flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs. It also performs more than 7,400 missions on an annual basis and they provide the tools, talent and equipment for the core disciplines of aircraft structures, propulsion, avionics and electronic warfare evaluation of the latest weapon system technologies. The Project and Resource Management Divisions provide the foundation for the program management of test missions. 412th Civil Engineer Division 412th Maintenance Group 412th Medical Group 412th Mission Support Group U. S, the comprehensive curriculum of Test Pilot School is fundamental to the success of flight test and evaluation. There are a vast array of organizations at Edwards that do not fall under the 412th Test Wing and these units do everything from providing an on-base grocery store to testing state-of-the-art rockets. The 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron provides Air Combat Command personnel to support combined test, established in 1917, it is one of the oldest units of the United States Air Force. The Desert Pirates are part of the 53d Test and Evaluation Group, Nellis AFB, Nevada, the 31st is staffed with a mixture of operations, maintenance and engineering experts who plan and conduct tests, evaluate effectiveness and suitability, and influence system design. The squadrons personnel are integrated into the B-1, B-2, B-52, Global Hawk, MQ-9 and their results and conclusions support Department of Defense acquisition, deployment and employment decisions. AFOTEC Detachment 5 is responsible for conducting the operational test and evaluation of USAF aircraft, certification by Detachment 5 is required in advance prior to new aircraft prior to AFMC full rate production and combat fielding decisions. During 1978 and 1979, an AFFTC test pilot and a pair of flight test engineers were engaged in testing with Lockheeds low-observable technology demonstrator. The successful conduct of tests led immediately to the development of the F-117A Nighthawk
33.
Lockheed XF-90
–
The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a United States Air Force requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort. The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo, Lockheed received a contract for two prototype XP-90s. The design was developed by Willis Hawkins and the Skunk Works team under Kelly Johnson, developmental and political difficulties delayed the first flight until 3 June 1949, with Chief Test Pilot Tony LeVier at the controls. Performance of the design was considered due to being underpowered. In response to a 1945 Army request for a jet fighter, Lockheed proposed a jet powered initially by a Lockheed L-1000 axial flow turbojet. Further design refinements included using two Westinghouse J34 engines with afterburners, after data showed that a delta planform would not be suitable, the Lockheed Model 90 was built as a mockup in 1947 with swept wings. The wings had leading edge slats, Fowler flaps and ailerons on the trailing edge, the pressurized cockpit was fitted with an ejector seat and a bubble canopy. Proposed armament was six 20 mm cannons, the internal fuel was supplemented by wingtip-mounted tanks, bringing total fuel capacity to 1,665 gal. The use of 75ST aluminum rather than the then-standard 24ST aluminum alloy, along with heavy forgings and machined parts, resulted in an extremely well-constructed, however, these innovations also resulted in an aircraft with an empty weight more than 50 percent heavier than its competitors. The first XF-90 used non-afterburning J34s, but these lacked the thrust for takeoff as rocket-assisted RATO were required for most of the first flights unless it carried a low fuel load. The second had afterburners installed which had tested on an F-80 testbed. Even so, the aircraft remained underpowered, the XF-90 was the first USAF jet with an afterburner and the first Lockheed jet to fly supersonic, albeit in a dive. It also incorporated a vertical stabilizer that could be moved fore. Upon Lockheed losing the contract, the two prototypes were retired to other testing roles. The first aircraft was shipped to the NACA Laboratory in Cleveland and it was no longer flyable, and its extremely strong airframe was tested to destruction. The other survived three atomic blasts at Frenchman Flat within the Nevada Test Site in 1952. The XF-90 lived on as the aircraft flown through the 1950s by the popular Blackhawks Squadron in the series of the same name, first published by Quality Comics. The Blackhawks flew single-engine B and C models, fictional production variants of Lockheeds twin-engine XF-90, 46-0687 - tested to destruction at NACA lab in Cleveland, Ohio
34.
North American YF-93
–
The North American YF-93 was an American fighter development of the F-86 Sabre that emerged as a radically different variant that received its own designation. Two were built and flown before the project was eventually canceled, in 1947, North American Aviation began a design study, NA-157, to create a true penetration fighter to meet the requirements of a long-range version of its F-86A Sabre. In order to accommodate more fuel, a much larger F-86A was envisioned, eventually able to carry 1,961 US gallons, the new variant possessed a theoretical unrefuelled range of over 2,000 nmi, twice that of the standard production F-86A. The resultant fighter originally designated the F-86C was intended to compete with the XF-88 Voodoo, the F-86C was much larger and heavier, weighing in at 10,640 lb more than its antecedent. With the SCR-720 search radar and six 20 mm cannon mounted in the nose where the air intake was on the F-86A, a wasp waist was also incorporated in the fuselage. In December 1947, the Air Force ordered two prototype NA-157s and, considering the many changes to the F-86, redesignated it YF-93A, the first prototype was built with the NACA inlet ducts, the second aircraft had more conventional intakes. Six months later, the contract was followed up with an order for 118 F-93A-NAs. With the prototype YF-93As just coming off the line, the USAF took over the project. None of the projects would be ordered, the YF-93As were turned over to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics AMES facility for further testing before being utilized as chase aircraft until 1956. Flight with the NACA ducts proved troublesome at high angles of attack, by this time, however, higher performance aircraft were available and both aircraft were eventually declared surplus and scrapped. United States United States Air Force F-86C Original designation for a variant of the F-86A. YF-93A Two prototype F-86Cs redesignated, F-93A Production variant, order for 118 cancelled
35.
RDS-1
–
The RDS-1, also known as Izdeliye 501 and First Lightning, was used in the Soviet Unions first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin and it was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7,00 AM, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after top-secret research and development as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project. The weapon was designed at the Kurchatov Institute—at the time known as Laboratory №2. Plutonium for the bomb was produced at the industrial complex Chelyabinsk-40, the RDS-1 explosion yielded 22 kilotons of TNT, similar to the American Gadget and Fat Man bombs. At Lavrenty Berias insistence, the RDS-1 bomb was designed as a weapon similar to the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. In order to test the effects of the new weapon, workers constructed houses made of wood and bricks, along with a bridge, and a simulated metro in the vicinity of the test site. Armoured hardware and approximately 50 aircraft were brought to the testing grounds. The resulting data showed the RDS explosion to be 50% more destructive than originally estimated by its engineers, there are several explanations for the USSR code-name of RDS-1, usually an arbitrary designation, a backronym Special Jet Engine, or Stalins Jet Engine, or Russia does it herself. Later weapons were also designated RDS, but with different model numbers, mikhail Pervukhin served as the chairman of the commission in charge of the RDS-1 testing. The test surprised the Western powers, American intelligence had estimated that the Soviets would not produce an atomic weapon until 1953, while the British did not expect it until 1954. When the radioactive products from the test were detected by the US Air Force. President Harry Truman notified the world of the situation on September 23,1949, the announcement was a turning point in the Cold War that had just begun. Once the Soviet Union was confirmed to be in possession of the atomic bomb, rDS-3 RDS-6s RDS-4 RDS-37 RDS-220 Plan Totality Video of the Joe-1 Nuclear Test
36.
Soviet Union
–
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
37.
Korean War
–
The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
38.
Pratt & Whitney J57
–
The Pratt & Whitney J57 was an axial-flow turbojet engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in the early 1950s. The J57 was the first 10,000 lbf thrust class engine in the United States, the J57/JT3C was developed into the J75/JT4A turbojet, JT3D/TF33 turbofan and the PT5/T57 turboprop. The J57 was a development of the XT45 turboprop engine intended for the XB-52, as the B-52 power requirements grew, the design evolved into a turbojet, the JT3. The prestigious Collier Trophy for 1952 was awarded to Leonard S. Hobbs, Chief Engineer of United Aircraft Corporation, on May 25,1953, a J57-powered YF-100A exceeded Mach 1 on its maiden flight. The engine was produced from 1951 to 1965 with a total of 21,170 built, one XT57 was installed in the nose of a JC-124C, and tested in 1956
39.
Pitch-up
–
In aerodynamics, pitch-up is a severe form of stall in an aircraft. It is directly related to inherent properties of all swept wings, pitch-up problems were first noticed on high-speed test aircraft with swept wings. It was a problem on the Douglas Skyrocket, which was used extensively to test the problem. Before the pitch-up phenomenon was well understood, it plagued all early swept-wing aircraft, in the F-100 Super Sabre it even got its own name, the Sabre dance. In aircraft with high-mounted tailplanes, like the F-101 Voodoo, recovery was difficult because the tailplane was placed directly in the wing wake during the pitch-up. Deployment of the parachute and a considerable height above the ground were essential for a chance at recovery. Wings generate a complex pattern of forces at different points on their planform. These are usually described as lift and drag components, using vector decomposition, if these vectors are added up for the entire wing, the result is a single force acting at some point on the wing. This point is known as the center of pressure, or CoP, the exact location changes with changes in the angle of attack, which leads to the requirement to trim aircraft as they change their speed or power settings. Another major consideration for design is a similar vector addition of all of the weight terms of the parts of the aircraft. This too can be reduced to a single weight term acting at some point along the axis of the aircraft. If the wing is positioned so its CoP lies near CoG for the aircraft, the same basic layout is desirable for an aircraft with a swept wing as well. On a conventional rectangular wing, the CoP meets the aircraft at the point on the chord running directly out from the root. While the same analysis will reveal a center of pressure point for a swept wing, for highly swept planforms, the CoP may lie behind the trailing edge of the wing root, requiring the wing to meet the aircraft at a seemingly far-forward location. In this case of a wing, changes to the CoP with angle of attack may be magnified. The introduction of swept wings took place during a move to more highly tapered designs as well, research during the war led to widespread use of taper, especially in the post-war era. Although this effect was unfavourable in a straight wing aircraft, on a swept-wing design it had unexpected. When the tips stall on a wing, the center of pressure
40.
Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
–
The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. The -2 in the aircrafts designation referred to the fact that the Skyrocket was the version of what had originally been conceived as a three-phase program. The phase-one aircraft, the D-558-1, was jet powered and had straight wings, the third phase, which never came to fruition, would have involved constructing a mock-up of a combat type aircraft embodying the results from the testing of the phase one and two aircraft. The eventual D-558-3 design, which was never built, was for an aircraft similar to the North American X-15. When it became obvious that the D558-1 fuselage could not be modified to accommodate both rocket and jet power, the D558-2 was conceived as a different aircraft. A contract change order was issued on 27 January 1947 to formally drop the final three D558-1 aircraft and substitute three new D558-2 aircraft instead, the Skyrocket featured wings with a 35-degree sweep and horizontal stabilizers with 40-degree sweep. The wings and empennage were fabricated from aluminum and the fuselage was of primarily magnesium construction. The Skyrocket was powered by a Westinghouse J34-40 turbojet engine fed through side intakes in the forward fuselage and this engine was intended for takeoff, climb and landing. For high speed flight, a four-chamber Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 engine, was fitted and this engine was rated at 6,000 lbf static thrust at sea level. A total of 250 US gallons of fuel,195 US gallons of alcohol. The Skyrocket was configured with a cockpit canopy, but visibility from the cockpit was poor. This resulted in a greater profile area at the front of the aircraft, like its predecessor, the D558-1, the D558-2 was designed so that the forward fuselage, including cockpit, could be separated from the rest of the aircraft in an emergency. Once the forward fuselage had decelerated sufficiently, the pilot would then be able to escape from the cockpit by parachute, Douglas pilot John F. Martin made the first flight at Muroc Army Airfield in California on 4 February 1948 in an aircraft equipped only with the jet engine. The number three aircraft also gathered information about the effects of external stores upon the behavior in the transonic region. In correlation with data from other early transonic research aircraft such as the XF-92A and its flight research was done at the NACAs Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, redesignated in 1949 the High-Speed Flight Research Station. The HSFRS became the High-Speed Flight Station in 1954 and was known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. In 2014 it was renamed Armstrong Flight Research Center in honor of Neil Armstrong, the three aircraft flew a total of 313 times –123 by the number one aircraft,103 by the second Skyrocket, and 87 by aircraft number three. Skyrocket 143 flew all but one of its missions as part of the Douglas contractor program to test the aircrafts performance, NACA aircraft 143 was initially powered by the jet engine only, but was later fitted with the rocket engine
41.
Edwards Air Force Base
–
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, located approximately 22 miles northeast of Lancaster and 15 miles east of Rosamond. It operates the U. S. Air Force Test Pilot School and is home to NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center, previously known as Muroc Air Force Base, Edwards AFB is named in honor of Captain Glen Edwards. Edwards became a test pilot in 1943 and spent much of his time at Muroc Army Air Field, on Californias high desert and he died in the crash of a Northrop YB-49 flying wing near Muroc AFB on 5 June 1948. The base is next to Rogers Dry Lake, an endorheic salt pan whose hard dry lake surface provides a natural extension to Edwards runways. This large landing area, combined with excellent year-round weather, makes the good for flight testing. The lake is a National Historic Landmark, the base has played a significant role in the development of virtually every aircraft to enter the Air Force inventory since World War II. Almost every United States military aircraft since the 1950s has been at least partially tested at Edwards, the Wing also oversees the base’s day-to-day operations and provides support for military, federal civilian, and contract personnel assigned to Edwards AFB. 412th Operations Group. There are eight flight test squadrons under the 412th Operations Group with as many as 20 aircraft assigned to each, the 412 OS flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs. It also performs more than 7,400 missions on an annual basis and they provide the tools, talent and equipment for the core disciplines of aircraft structures, propulsion, avionics and electronic warfare evaluation of the latest weapon system technologies. The Project and Resource Management Divisions provide the foundation for the program management of test missions. 412th Civil Engineer Division 412th Maintenance Group 412th Medical Group 412th Mission Support Group U. S, the comprehensive curriculum of Test Pilot School is fundamental to the success of flight test and evaluation. There are a vast array of organizations at Edwards that do not fall under the 412th Test Wing and these units do everything from providing an on-base grocery store to testing state-of-the-art rockets. The 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron provides Air Combat Command personnel to support combined test, established in 1917, it is one of the oldest units of the United States Air Force. The Desert Pirates are part of the 53d Test and Evaluation Group, Nellis AFB, Nevada, the 31st is staffed with a mixture of operations, maintenance and engineering experts who plan and conduct tests, evaluate effectiveness and suitability, and influence system design. The squadrons personnel are integrated into the B-1, B-2, B-52, Global Hawk, MQ-9 and their results and conclusions support Department of Defense acquisition, deployment and employment decisions. AFOTEC Detachment 5 is responsible for conducting the operational test and evaluation of USAF aircraft, certification by Detachment 5 is required in advance prior to new aircraft prior to AFMC full rate production and combat fielding decisions. During 1978 and 1979, an AFFTC test pilot and a pair of flight test engineers were engaged in testing with Lockheeds low-observable technology demonstrator. The successful conduct of tests led immediately to the development of the F-117A Nighthawk
42.
Marana, Arizona
–
Marana is a town in Pima County, Arizona, located northwest of Tucson, with a small portion in Pinal County. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 34,961, Marana was the fourth fastest-growing place among all cities and towns in Arizona of any size from 1990 to 2000. Marana is located at 32°23′12″N 111°7′32″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 121.4 square miles, of which,120.7 square miles of it is land and 0.7 square miles of it is water. The town extends along Interstate 10 from the line between Pinal and Pima County to the Tucson city line, except the area around the non-affluent unincorporated community of Rillito, the town has a history of farming and ranching. The Tucson Mountains and the half of Saguaro National Park are located to the south. Phoenix is approximately 90 minutes north via Interstate 10, the southern portion of Marana has grown considerably since the early 1990s with the addition of businesses and some housing, much of it due to annexation of existing unincorporated areas. In 1992, the Marana Town Council voted to annex an area of unincorporated Pima County that was located to the southeast of the town limits. The area selected was a corridor of land that snaked its way south along Interstate 10, then to the east along Ina Road. These areas were mainly high density commercial businesses and shopping centers, including retailers such as Super KMart, Costco Wholesale, Target. The areas were selected by Marana to be annexed, by their own admission, the large residential areas behind these commercial areas were not annexed. However, on April 4,1994, Judge Lina Rodriguez ruled in favor of Marana, following this suit, the Arizona State annexation laws were changed, forbidding municipalities from annexing small strips of land without taking large surrounding parcels as well. A “strip annexation” is no longer allowed under Arizona law, as of the census of 2010, there were 34,961 people,11,759 households, and 8,871 families residing in the town. 21. 7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,19. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the family size was 3.17. In the town, the population was out with 26. 7% under the age of 18,7. 4% from 18 to 24,34. 3% from 25 to 44,22. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 37 years, the Town is 50. 1% female and 49. 9% male. The median income for a household in the town was $68,361, males had a median income of $58,932 versus $37,388 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,468, about 6. 1% of families and 8. 1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15. 0% of those under age 18 and 2. 3% of those age 65 or over
43.
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
–
The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is an aviation museum which displays a number of military and civilian aircraft and spacecraft, most notably, the Hughes H-4 Hercules Spruce Goose. The museum is located in McMinnville, Oregon, across the street from the headquarters of Evergreen International Aviation, Oregon Route 18 separates the museum from the company operations and McMinnville Municipal Airport. An IMAX theater opened in 2007, and an exhibit hall focusing on the Titan II ICBM. In March 1990, the Disney Corporation, which owned the Spruce Goose, announced that it was closing its exhibit located in Long Beach, the Aeroclub of Southern California was notified and they immediately began the search for a new home for the Spruce Goose. In 1992, the Evergreen Museum won the bid with a proposal to build a museum around the aircraft, the disassembly of the aircraft began in August 1992. The plane was disassembled and sent by ship up the Pacific Ocean, Columbia River, for the next eight years, the plane went through detailed restoration. Volunteers removed all the paint, replaced worn parts, and repainted the entire aircraft, in September 2000, the main aircraft assemblies were complete. The fuselage, wings, and tail were transported across the highway and into the new museum building, for the next year, crews spent their time assembling the wings and tail to the fuselage. These were completed in time for the opening on June 6,2001. The control surfaces were assembled later, the last piece was put into place on December 7,2001. The name of the museum has evolved, Initially known as the Evergreen Museum, in 1997, the facility was renamed the Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Educational Center in memory of Captain Smith, who died in an automobile accident in March 1995. Work began on the museum building in September 2006 which is identical to the aviation museum. It was completed in May 2008 and had its opening on June 6,2008. In 2009 the museum became an affiliate in the Smithsonian Affiliations program, a key component of the museum are the many volunteers that work there. Many are former aviators who flew the planes on display and their detailed descriptions and real life commentary help bring the planes and their days of flight back to life. The museum also offers a number of presentations on the development and use of the aircraft. As of June 2008, two centers were open to the public, The primary structure is the aviation center with the Spruce Goose as centerpiece. The space flight center holds a Titan II missile as its centerpiece, the Titan II sits upright in a specially constructed display extending two stories below the floor, silo fashion
44.
McMinnville, Oregon
–
McMinnville is the county seat and largest city of Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it was named by its founder, William T. Newby, as of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,187. McMinnville is located at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Yamhill River in the Willamette Valley, part of the Portland metropolitan area, it lies 35 miles southwest of Portland. The city is home to Linfield College and the Evergreen Aviation Museum, town founder William T. Newby joined the Great Migration of 1843, later claiming land in 1844 on the present site of McMinnville in what was then known as the Oregon Country. He built a grist mill in 1853 at what would become the west end of Third Street, on May 5th,1856 Newby platted a town and named it after his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee. Newby would later make a donation of land for the founding of an institution of higher learning in the town, originally called McMinnville College. McMinnville was incorporated as a town in 1876 and became a city in 1882, County residents voted to move the county seat of Yamhill County from Lafayette to McMinnville in 1886. The Oregonian published the photographs the next day, and within a month they were published in LIFE magazine, although these images have come to be known as the McMinnville UFO photographs, the Trent farm was actually located just outside Sheridan, Oregon, nine miles southwest of McMinnville. McMinnville is located 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean,35 miles from Portland, and 26 miles from Salem, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.58 square miles, all of it land. This region experiences warm and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, McMinnville has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps. As of the census of 2010, there were 32,187 people,11,674 households, the population density was 3,042.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 12,389 housing units at a density of 1,171.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 82. 2% White,0. 7% African American,1. 2% Native American,1. 5% Asian,0. 2% Pacific Islander,10. 7% from other races, and 3. 5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20. 6% of the population,26. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the family size was 3.14. The median age in the city was 34 years. 25. 8% of residents were under the age of 18,12. 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24,24. 7% were from 25 to 44,22. 2% were from 45 to 64, and 14. 6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48. 2% male and 51. 8% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 26,499 people residing in the city, among 9,367 households and 6,463 families
45.
Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum
–
The museum is located six miles east of Pueblo, Colorado on US Highway 50 at the Pueblo Memorial Airport, occupying space on what was the Pueblo Army Air Base during World War II. It is managed and maintained by the Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society, the aircraft currently on display are on loan from the various military services, with the exception of the McDonnell Douglas F-101 Voodoo, recorded as having a civilian owner. The museum also hosts periodic open days featuring a select aircraft. Also, there is a library, including a video tape collection. The museum relies on many men and women volunteers who assist its visitors with admissions, store purchases, tours, McDonnell F-101A Voodoo - USAF This Voodoo, AF Ser. 53-2418, was the first production A-model and was delivered in August 1954 to Edwards AFB and its maiden flight was on September 29,1954, with McDonnell Aircraft test pilot Robert C. Test flight results, Mach 0.9 at 35,000 feet with a maximum test speed of Mach 1.4
46.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
–
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and it has been operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds of weapons, the B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52s official name Stratofortress is rarely used, informally, the aircraft has become referred to as the BUFF. The B-52 has been in service with the USAF since 1955. As of December 2015,58 were in service with 18 in reserve. The B-52 completed sixty years of service with its original operator in 2015. After being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve into the 2040s, the aircraft was to have a crew of five or more turret gunners, and a six-man relief crew. It was required to cruise at 300 mph at 34,000 feet with a radius of 5,000 miles. The armament was to consist of a number of 20 mm cannon and 10,000 pounds of bombs. On 13 February 1946, the Air Force issued bid invitations for these specifications, with Boeing, Consolidated Aircraft, and Glenn L. Martin Company submitting proposals. On 5 June 1946, Boeings Model 462, an aircraft powered by six Wright T35 turboprops with a gross weight of 360,000 pounds. On 28 June 1946, Boeing was issued a letter of contract for US$1.7 million to build a full-scale mock-up of the new XB-52 and do preliminary engineering and testing. However, by October 1946, the air began to express concern about the sheer size of the new aircraft. In response, Boeing produced Model 464, a smaller version with a 230,000 pound gross weight. Boeing responded with two powered by the T-35 turboprops
47.
Nuclear weapon
–
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from small amounts of matter. The first test of a bomb released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The first thermonuclear bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10 million tons of TNT, a thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons of TNT. A nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate a city by blast, fire. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of destruction, and their use. Nuclear weapons have been used twice in nuclear warfare, both times by the United States against Japan near the end of World War II, the bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and military personnel from acute injuries sustained from the explosions. The ethics of the bombings and their role in Japans surrender remain the subject of scholarly, since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for the purposes of testing and demonstration. Only a few nations possess such weapons or are suspected of seeking them, israel is also believed to possess nuclear weapons, though in a policy of deliberate ambiguity, it does not acknowledge having them. Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands are nuclear weapons sharing states, south Africa is the only country to have independently developed and then renounced and dismantled its nuclear weapons. Modernisation of weapons continues to occur, all existing nuclear weapons derive some of their explosive energy from nuclear fission reactions. Weapons whose explosive output is exclusively from fission reactions are commonly referred to as bombs or atom bombs. This has long noted as something of a misnomer, as their energy comes from the nucleus of the atom. The latter approach is considered more sophisticated than the former and only the approach can be used if the fissile material is plutonium. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is to ensure that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton to upwards of 500,000 tons of TNT, all fission reactions necessarily generate fission products, the radioactive remains of the atomic nuclei split by the fission reactions. Many fission products are highly radioactive or moderately radioactive. Fission products are the radioactive component of nuclear fallout
48.
Military tactics
–
Military tactics are the science and art of organizing a military force, and the techniques for combining and using weapons and military units to engage and defeat an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology have been reflected in changes to military tactics, in contemporary military science, tactics are the lowest of three planning levels, strategic, operational, and tactical. The highest level of planning is strategy, how force is translated into political objectives by bridging the means, the intermediate level, operational, the conversion of strategy into tactics, deals with formations of units. Military tactics answer the questions of how best to deploy and employ forces on a small scale, some practices have not changed since the dawn of warfare, assault, ambushes, skirmishing, turning flanks, reconnaissance, creating and using obstacles and defenses, etc. Using ground to best advantage has not changed much either, heights, rivers, swamps, passes, choke points, and natural cover, can all be used in multiple ways. Before the nineteenth century, many tactics were confined to battlefield concerns. Nowadays, specialized tactics exist for many situations, for example for securing a room in a building, technological changes can render existing tactics obsolete, and sociological changes can shift the goals and methods of warfare, requiring new tactics. Tactics define how soldiers are armed and trained, each – constrained by his weaponry, logistics and social conditioning – would use a battlefield differently, but would usually seek the same outcomes from their use of tactics. The First World War forced great changes in tactics as advances in technology rendered prior tactics useless, list of military tactics Combat arms Johnson, Rob, Michael Whitby, John France. How to win on the battlefield,25 key tactics to outwit, outflank, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Muhm, Gerhard. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign, Gerhard Muhm, La Tattica nella campagna ass d’Italia, in LINEA GOTICA AVAMPOSTO DEI BALCANI, Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993. Contemporary Marine tactics for war fighting Napoleons tactics and strategy Small Unit Actions during German Campaign in Russia
Canada
Republic of China
United States
