The last combat F-100 departed Vietnam in 1971, after nearly eight years of combat. Super Sabres flew 360,283 combat sorties. The four tactical fighter wings in Vietnam (3rd, 31st, 35th and 37th) exceeded the number of combat sorties flown by 15,000-plus P-51 Mustangs in World War II. The Air Force lost 186 F-100 Super Sabres to anti-aircraft fire, none to MiGs, seven during Viet Cong assaults on its air bases and 45 to operational incidents.
Today in History – July 26, 1998 – Burt Rutan launches first flight of the Scaled Composites Proteus
26 July 1998 – Burt Rutan’s “Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus is a tandem-wing high-altitude long endurance aircraft designed by Burt Rutan to investigate the use of aircraft as high altitude telecommunications relays. The Proteus is a multi-mission vehicle able to carry various payloads on a ventral pylon. The Proteus has an extremely efficient design,