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
Len Higgins flew the F-100 from 5/1962-1/1963 in Operational Training at Luke AFB, AZ . He then went to Homestead AFB to fly the Hun from 3/1963-6/1965 with the 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron/31st Tactical Fighter Wing. Len’s next assignment from 7/1965-4/1968 was with the 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron/48th Tactical Fighter Wing out of RAF Lakenheath, England.
From 6/1968-9/1968 he attended Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, NV, and from 10/1968-10/1969 served as Wing Weapons Officer while assigned to Bien Hoa Air Base in Vietnam, still flying the F-100.
After serving 19 more years, Len retired from the USAF in 1987 and became a Project Engineer with EG&G Special Projects from October of 1987 until September of 2001.