• January 14, 1939: Muroc Notice of Condemnation

    Some 47 residents occupying 9,001 acres of land adjacent to the Muroc bombing range received notice of condemnation proceedings against their land. The federal government initiated the court action because of the inability of federal agents to purchase the land parcels from the owners at what was

  • January 12, 1961: B-58 Hustler Sets New Official World Speed Record

    A Strategic Air Command B-58 Hustler crew, led by Maj Henry J. Deutschendorf, flew their jet bomber with a 2,000-kg payload over the Center’s 2,000-km course to establish a new official world speed record of 1,061.808 mph. The flight also broke the existing world speed records for the same distance

  • January 11, 1961: Edwards Air Force Base Shock Wave Demonstration

    Following complaints from Los Angeles-area residents regarding shock waves from high-speed pullouts, a shock wave demonstration was held at Edwards Air Force Base for the benefit of news representatives at the request of the Armed Forces Public Information Office in Los Angeles. Dive tests were

  • January 10, 2014: F-35 Lightning II Testing

    The 461st Flight Test Squadron’s Lt Col Brent Reinhardt piloted F-35A AF-1 in the first Joint Strike Fighter test mission flown with 10 weapons, allowing the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force to evaluate the handling qualities of the F-35A. The weapon load consisted of six 500-pound Guided

  • January 8, 1942: Palmdale Airport Becomes Plant 42

    The Army Air Corps leased the Palmdale Airport from the Palmdale Irrigation District, and Works Progress Administration workers began construction on a 9,000 foot concrete runway, a 5,000 foot auxiliary runway, and a hangar. Within three years the 412th Fighter Group used the hangar, later known as

  • January 7, 2009: Boeing 737 AEW&C Testing

    Boeing completed the initial aerial refuelings of a 737 aircraft platform. The historic flights on were conducted for Project Wedgetail, Australia’s airborne early warning and control program. Flying 25,000 feet above Edwards Air Force Base, Boeing test pilot Ron “Taco” Johnston maneuvered the

  • January 6, 2005: New Command Chief Position

    The Air Force Flight Test Center created a Command Chief position from the existing Chief Master Sergeant position in the 95th Air Base Wing, and realigned the Center’s Command Chief position to the 412th Test Wing, consistent with the alignment of installation commander responsibilities to the Air

  • January 5, 1949: X-1 Conventional Take Off and Landing

    Major Yeager performed the first (and only) conventional ground takeoff of the X-1 program. He took off from the Rogers Dry Lake bed with a light fuel load, accelerated nearly vertically to 23,000 feet, and then made wide circuits around the southern end of the lake bed until his fuel was

  • January 4, 1968: 6511th Parachute Test Group Sets Airdrop Record

    The 6511th Test Group (Parachute) claimed an unofficial world record for a single delivery when a team successfully air-dropped a 50,160-lb pallet from a C-130 flying at 1,200 feet.The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built

  • January 3, 2005: Airmen Rescue Man From Burning Trailer

    Two Air Force Flight Test Center Non-Commissioned Officers, Technical Sergeants Jerry Rocovits and James Voight, reacted to a fire at the Trailer Haven trailer park just outside Edwards AFB in the town of Rosamond. They broke into a burning mobile home and pulled its occupant to safety.The Airmen

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