2 October 1968 – Major D. R. Barron was flying as Blade 3 with the 352 TFS out of Phan Rang AB, Vietnam. On the night of October 2nd, a flight of F-100s was scrambled from Phan Rang to bomb enemy troops and bunkers near That Son in the extreme southwestern corner of South Vietnam. Maj Barron’s aircraft was damaged by small arms fire but it must have appeared not to have been
serious as, instead of landing at Bien Hoa or Tan Son Nhut, he flew over 250 miles across South Vietnam, by-passed Phan Rang, and attempted to land at Cam Ranh Bay. However, he had to eject
over the sea close to the airfield and was rescued by a Navy boat.
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,