18 April 1955 – The Second prototype Lockheed XF-104A Starfighter, 53-7787, c/n 083-0002, is lost when the airframe sheds the bottom ejection seat hatch fairing during 20 mm gun firing causing explosive decompression. Test pilot Herman R. “Fish” Salmon ejected as aircraft broke up, injured landing in rough country. [Joe Baugher cites the date of
25 May 1953 – In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a supersonic day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45° wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre. The mockup was inspected on 7 July 1951, and after over 100 modifications, […]
24 May 1969 – Charlie Manske “Icon 6” was assigned a combat mission in Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam, flying F-100D #553555. Following the mission, while en route back to Tuy Hoa Air Base, the flight leader observed Capt Manske’s aircraft crash in the South China Sea approximately 25 miles southeast of the city of
23 May 1967 – President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s administration prohibits any American air attacks within a 10-mile (16-km) radius of Hanoi. A year earlier in June of 1966 “President Johnson served notice on North Vietnam yesterday [June 18] that the United States will ‘‘raise the cost of aggression at its source’’ by intensified use of
Today in History – May 23, 1967 – Johnson prohibits air attacks over Hanoi. Read More »