10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and
From the KY Courier-Journal, September 15, 1972 … ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Two U.S. Air Force pilots,…were killed last Friday when their F-4 Phantom jet fighter crashed into the Mediterranean off southeast Turkey, the American embassy disclosed Wednesday.
The pilots were Lt. Col. Gerald A. Cashman, 40, of Holton, Kan., and Capt. Ronald L. Bewley, 31, of Radcliff, Ky. Their families live in Torrejon, Spain, the embassy said. The plane was on a training flight from an airbase at Incirlik, southeast Turkey, officials said. They said contact with the plane was lost an hour after takeoff. Bits of aircraft debris and a one-man life raft were sighted 11 miles off the coast but there was no sign of survivors. Officials said the cause of the crash was not yet known.
Prior to his F-4 assignment, Jerry flew the F-100 with the 614TFS out of Torrejon, Spain.
