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.
This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history
10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and