• September 1, 1948: XR-12 Rainbow Makes Cross-Continental Flight

    A Republic XR-12 Rainbow took off from Edwards, flew out over the Pacific, and then made a nonstop coast-to-coast flight to New York. Along the way it made a single, 325-foot-long filmstrip recording its entire flight path across the continental United States. This was the first time that a portrait

  • August 31, 1971: Initial Remotely Piloted Vehicle Testing

    The Ling-Tenco-Vought Electronics, Inc. XQM-93A remotely piloted vehicle made its first flight, with a contractor pilot aboard. The vehicle was a concept demonstrator modified from a Schweizer glider and powered by a DT-6 turboprop engine. It was developed for SAC’s Compass Dwell program to acquire

  • August 30, 2006: Autonomous Airborne Refueling Testing

    A National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center flight crew conducted the first-ever autonomous probe-and-drogue airborne refueling operation. The Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration was a joint NASA/ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was carried out

  • August 29, 2003: First 4-Ship of FA-22 Raptors

    Four F/A-22 Raptors flew a four-ship formation, a first for the new fighter. The formation was part of a flight test of the Intra-Flight Data Link, a data transmitter designed to let Raptor pilots share flight information with other aircrews automatically, without using radio communications. Three

  • August 28, 1944: Bombing Practice - Muroc Maru

    Personnel from the Seventh Air Force arrived to set up a six-week training program for replacement B-25 aircrews on their way to the Pacific Theater. The Pacific Theater Training Program was transferred from Oahu to Muroc Army Air Field in order to reduce seaborne supply traffic, and became the

  • August 27, 2008: EOD Member Earns Bronze Star

    Master Sergeant David Larriva, a 95th Civil Engineering and Transportation Directorate Explosive Ordnance Division superintendent received his second Bronze Star Medal for his performance during a deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a Meritorious Service Medal for his actions as team

  • August 26, 2009: Steam Engine Record on the Lakebed

    A British steam car operated on Rodger’s Dry Lakebed set the official world record for the fastest speed ever travelled by a steam car, attaining a speed of 148.786 miles per hour. The record was the culmination of the British team’s effort over the past decade to beat the record of 127.659, set by

  • August 25, 1983: B-1B Weapons Separation Testing

    Weapons separation tests of the B-1B Lancer began with the successful release of a dummy Air to ground munitions-69 short range attack missile over the Western Missile Test Range near Vandenberg Air Force Base, California..Internal and External Store Separation looked at the characteristics of

  • August 24, 1933: Beginning of Palmdale Airport

    Construction began on a Government Landing Field northeast of Palmdale. The 160 acre facility was constructed by the Department of Commerce to be an emergency landing field for commercial air traffic. A local dirt strip on the site was replaced with four-way 3,300 foot oiled runways. The facility

  • August 23, 1948: XF-85 Goblin Aircraft Debuts

    The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin made its first free flight, piloted by company test pilot Edwin F. Schoch. The diminutive XF-85 was a parasite fighter with no landing gear, designed to be launched and recovered in flight by a transcontinental bomber. Separation and flight were successful but the Goblin

Search - On This Day in Test History