Archive for the 'AIRCRAFT' Category

IT ALL BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1962

cuban missile crisis 

The crisis began on Sunday October 14, 1962 when a United States Air Force U-2
aircraft on a photoreconnaissance mission captured photographic evidence of
Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba (examples below).  

The United States considered attacking Cuba via air and sea, and settled on a
military "quarantine" of Cuba. The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962,
when President Kennedy and U.N. Secretary-General U Thant reached a
public and secret agreement with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. The
quarantine officially ended on November 20, 1962. 

missile site cuba

missile site cuba 2 

ss-4_missile
The SS-4 "Sandal" intermediate range missile

  
u2
The Lockheed U-2 intelligence aircraft

On Monday October 22, President Kennedy announced the discovery
of the missile installations to the public in a nationwide televised
address.

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IMAGINARY BATTLES BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1965

snoopy vs red baron title
red baron snoopy

The Peanuts comic strip character Snoopy is famous for his alter-egos, one of which 
is the imaginary battles with World War l Flying Ace “The Red Baron”. The fantasy’s
first appeared in the strip on Sunday October 10, 1965 (above).    

 

TheRedBaron

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a
German fighter pilot known as "The Red Baron".

charles schultz
Cartoonist Charles Schultz

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MILITARY BRANCH FORMED ON THIS DAY IN 1947

                   

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of
the United Armed Forces. It was Initially part of the United States Army, the
USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18,
1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch
of the U.S. military to be formed, as well as the world’s most technologically
sophisticated air force.

thunderbirdsRVM

The Thunderbirds are the air demonstration squadron of the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

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PORTLAND POSTCARD FROM 1944

Portland postcard swan island airport  1944

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JAPAN BOMBED OREGON ON THIS DAY IN 1942

Glen aircraft

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese submarine was spotted cruising in an easterly direction raising its periscope occasionally as it neared the Oregon Coastline. Based
on the Sub was a small two passenger float plane (above). It’s mission; a test run to
start a devastating forest fire by dropping two 176 pound incendiary bombs. If they
were successful, Japan had hopes of attacking the eastern end of the Panama
Canal to slow down shipping from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

This event, which caused no damage, marked the only time during World War ll that
an enemy plane had dropped bombs on the U.S. mainland. A major fire had been
averted due to the fact the coastal fog, mist and heavy doses of Oregon rain made
the forests so wet they simply didn’t catch fire.

Fifty years later on 1992, the the Japanese pilot, Nobuo Fujita who survived the war, returned to Oregon to help dedicate a historical plaque (below) at the exact spot
where his two bombs had impacted. The elderly pilot then donated his ceremonial
sward as a gesture of peace and closure of the bombings of Oregon on that day
in 1942. Fujita would return to Brookings 3 more times before his death in 1997,
and the following year his daughter buried some of his ashes at the site of his
famous bombing.

Nobuo-Fujita

Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita

Oregon-4-Sub--FujitaGlen
Fujita is shown with his Yokosuka E14Y (Glen) float plane prior to his flight.

 

Memorial plaque of bombing

The Memorial Plaque located in Brookings, Oregon at the site of the 1942
bombing

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