Archives: Today in History

29 October 1953: Lieutenant Colonel Frank Kendall (“Pete”) Everest, United States Air Force, flew a new prototype air superiority fighter, North American Aviation’s YF-100A Super Sabre, serial number 52-5754, over the 3 kilometer and 15-kilometer courses at the Salton Sea, in the Colorado Desert of southeastern California. Flying four runs over the short course, Everest […]

28 October 1962 – “Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders the withdrawal of missiles from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — “During this period, when the maintenance of world peace was so seriously threatened, the officers and Airmen of the 31st Wing performed their vital mission in a truly professional manner.” -Col. Frank

27 October 1954 between August 1954 and May 1956, Joseph A. Walker, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ chief project test pilot for the Douglas X-3 supersonic research aircraft, made twenty research flights in the “Stiletto.” On the tenth flight, 27 October, Walker took the X-3 to an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). With