Major Howard “Scrappy” Johnson (above) set a world altitude record, reaching 91,243 feet, flying a YF-104A from Edwards AFB in California.

 

Major Johnson (center) being congratulated by fellow test pilots Captain
Walter Irwin (left), and Captain Jim Low (right).

The Doolittle Raid was the first air raid by the U.S  to strike Japan in retaliation after 
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 during World War ll. The
raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James “Jimmy” Doolittle (below). A
total of sixteen U.S Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched
from the U.S Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the Western Pacific Ocean. All of
the aircraft involved in the mission were lost and 11 crewmen were either killed Or
captured. The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan. As of this date,
five of the Doolittle Raiders are still alive.

James Doolittle

Doolittle taking off

The U.S. Congress passed legislation in 1954 to begin construction of an Air Force Academy, and President Eisenhower signed it into law on 1 April of that year. The 
legislation established an advisory commission to determine the site of the new 
school.  Among the panel members were Charles Lindbergh, and Lieutenant
General Herbert R. Harmon, who later became the Academy’s first superintendent. A
total of 582 sites were considered and the winner was Colorado Springs, Colorado. It
was announced by the Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott in June of 1954. 

Pictured above is an airship under construction during 1909 – 1910 by the Preble-Rekar Airship company of Portland, Oregon. The rigid dirigible was to be 250 feet long and 24 feet in diameter. It was never completed. 

Famed country singer Patsy Cline died in a plane crash near Camden,Tennessee. The
plane, piloted by her manager Randy Hughes, flew into severe weather, and according
to Cline’s wristwatch, crashed at 6:20 p.m. in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee,
90 miles from the destination. Patsy along with singers Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and Hughes (shown above) died instantly from their injuries. Throughout the
night, reports of the missing plane flooded the radio airwaves. Since her death at the
height of her career, Patsy Cline has been considered one of the most influential, successful, and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century. She was 30 .

September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963