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
“As a boy during World War II, he would see formations of fighter planes flying over, en route from a base in nearby Rome, N.Y. to Europe by way of Presque Isle.
He became interested in aviation, studying U.S. Army Air Corps and Navy aircraft and building and attempting to fly balsa wood models of those planes.
Following his high school graduation in 1948, he entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He graduated in 1952 and volunteered for the U.S. Air Force.
He completed a six-month pilot training program at a civilian contract school in Columbus, MS. He would receive additional training in aerobatics and formations at Air Force bases in Texas before earning his wings.”(1)
Vic Macomber flew 219 combat missions in Vietnam and retired from the USAF in February of 1973 and from A.G. Edwards, where he was a stockbroker, in February 2003.
Vic worked a couple of days a week as a volunteer aircraft mechanic at Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, ME.
When not working he dabbles at golf, tennis, and skiing. (2)
Source: (1) https://lcnme.com/currentnews/damariscotta-veteran-flew-119-combat-missions/
