The unpainted XF6F-1 prior to its first flight

On June 26th, 1942, a prototype of the Grumman F6F Hellcat took to the skies
for the first time. Initially conceived of as an improved version of the Grumman
F4F Wildcat which had been in service since the 1930s. The plane was designed
with its greatest opponent, the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, in mind. 

The Hellcats were credited with destroying 5,223 aircraft while in service with the
U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy‘s Fleet Air Arm. They remained
in service as late as 1954 as a night fighter.

The F6F-3 as introduced in 1943

USS Saratoga (CVA 60) was commissioned April 14, 1956

The USS Saratoga, the legendary aircraft carrier that played a key role in the
Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and Gulf wars, is destined for dismantling after
the Navy paid one penny to a Texas firm to recycle the 81,101-ton behemoth.

The once-mighty vessel is the second of three conventionally-powered carriers
to set to sail to the scrapyard, following another one-cent deal involving the
Forrestal in October. ESCO Marine, of Brownsville, will pay to tow, dismantle 
and recycle the ship, which was decommissioned in 1994 after more than 38
years of service. Efforts to spare the ship failed, as they did with the Forrestal
last year.

Major Howard “Scrappy” Johnson (above) set a world altitude record, when 
he reached 91,243 feet, flying a Lockheed YF-104A Starfighter, from Edwards
AFB in California. In recognition of the record, then Vice President Richard
M. Nixon presented him with the Robert J. Collier trophy for aeronautical
achievement.

Charles Lindbergh made a historic first flight of the Spirit of St. Louis from Dutch Flats 
Airport near San Diego, Ca. Most of the employees of Ryan Aircraft that built the Spirit
came to the field to witness this historic flight.

The 1927 action film Wings was the only silent film to win the Academy
Award for Best Picture.