Archives: Today in History

17 April 1956: Lockheed Aircraft Corporation rolled out the very first production F-104A Starfighter, 55-2956, at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California. This airplane, one of the original seventeen pre-production YF-104As, incorporated many improvements over the XF-104 prototype, the most visible being a longer fuselage. Once the configuration was finalized, 55-2956 was the first YF-104A converted to […]

On 16 April 1961, six Super Sabres were deployed from Clark Air Base in the Philippines to Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand for air defense purposes; the first F-100s to enter combat in Southeast Asia.[18] From that date until their redeployment in 1971, the F-100s were the longest-serving U.S. jet fighter-bomber to fight in

15 Apr 1971 – Capt. J.C. Hauk is piloting F-100D #562955 as Yellow Jacket 1 for the 352nd TFS out of  Phan Rang. While on a mission he is hit by small arms fire or possibly AAA and crashes. He is recovered by Army forces. At the end of April 1971, the 352d began phasing