• August 12, 1954: 6511th Test Group

    The 6511th Parachute Development Test Group redesignated as the 6511th Test Group (Parachute). The unit’s personnel did not change and its location remained at El Centro. Administrative and operational control remained with the Air Force Flight Test Center and the Wright Aerospace Defense Command

  • August 11, 1956: F-102 Side Stick Testing

    Captain Robert M. White made the initial flight test of a side-stick controller in an F-102A. This unique control arrangement accommodated the radar displays planned for the upcoming F-106 interceptor. It later became standard in the F‑16 Fighting Falcon of the 1980s.A side-stick or sidestick

  • August 10, 1917: Two-Seater Scout Aeroplane Performs Flight Testing

    Personnel from the California Aeroplane & Motor Company successfully tested a prototype two-seat scout aeroplane. The 190 horsepower aircraft, modeled after a French fighter, was transported by truck from Los Angeles and assembled on the site. This was the first recorded use of the dry lakebed for

  • August 9, 1964: Goodyear Tire Test Trials

    High-speed auto racer Mickey Thompson lost control of his 2,000 horsepower vehicle and survived a 170 mile per hour spin during tire trials on the south lakebed runway. His car, powered by four Packard engines, hit a bump at 178 mile per hour and went airborne. All four special Goodyear tires

  • August 8, 2007: New Fuel Blend Certified for B-52 Bomber

    In a signing ceremony at Edwards AFB, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne announced the completion of the service’s certification of the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuel blend for use in all B‑52H aircraft. Certification testing had commenced at Edwards on 19 September 2006, when a B-52H was

  • August 7, 1984: First Rescue Mission For HH-60 Helicopter

    The HH-60D flew its first rescue mission, successfully rescuing a man and a woman who had become stranded overnight at the 10,000 ft level in the High Sierras. The helicopter had been undergoing high-altitude testing at Coyote Flats, near Bishop. Coyote Flats was a remote and unimproved bivouac site

  • August 6, 1998: NASA Pathfinder Breaks Altitude Record

    The solar-powered Pathfinder-Plus, an upgraded version of the original Pathfinder vehicle, reached a peak altitude of approximately 80,300 feet during a 15-hour flight in Hawaii. This was the highest altitude ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft. The vehicle carried a simulated payload of 68

  • August 5, 1975: John Manke Testing Shuttle Landings

    A National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) test pilot John Manke flew the X-24B from 60,000 ft to an unpowered landing on the main runway for the first time, following an unpowered descent from 57,050 ft. This demonstrated that a space shuttle-like vehicle could safely be landed on a

  • August 4, 2000: F-117 Combined Task Force Testing

    The F-117 Combined Task Force completed the flight test evaluation of the GBU-27A/B enhanced guided bomb unit, just two months after its first captive-carry flight.Captive carry is typically used to conduct initial testing on a new airframe or system, before it is ready for free flight. Captive

  • August 3, 2011: Airman Receives Purple Heart Medal

    The 95th Civil Engineering Explosive Ordnance Disposal journeyman Senior Airman Dustin A. Hamell received a Purple Heart from Col Gregory Schwab, 95th Air Base Wing commander for wounds received in action in Afghanistan on July 2, 2010. Following a suicide bomb attack with a 750-pound vehicle borne

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