April 13, 1971 – The pilot with call-sign “Blade 5” who was assigned to the 614th TFS out of Phan Rang, is hit by enemy fire and crashes while flying F-100D #55379. He is recovered. No other information is available.
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,