• July 3, 1942: First Retrorocket in Flight Fired

    Lieutenant Commander James Hallack Hean, United States Navy, flew a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina over Goldstone Lake, California, to fire the first retrorocket in flight.One of the most recognized aircraft in the world, the Consolidated PBY Catalina not only served in the U.S. Navy, but also with

  • July 2, 2016: KC-46 Refuels F-16

    The KC-46A Pegasus successfully off-loaded fuel to an F-16C Fighting Falcon receiver aircraft, one of three milestones required to meet the Milestone C criteria for a Low-Rate Initial Production decision.The Low-Rate Initial Production is conducted during the Production and Deployment Phase.  The

  • July 1, 2001: Edwards Makes Great Strides in Energy Conservation

    On this day, the Air Force Flight Test Center achieved a 24.7 percent decrease in energy usage over 1985 levels.  Team Edwards demonstrated its contribution to reducing the base's utility costs and the strain on the electrical grid system. Base leadership required immediate reduction in electricity

  • June 30, 1961: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Testing

    The Directorate of Rocket Propulsion began a 90-day feasibility study of its Mojave Concept. The concept grew out of an internal proposal to develop a lightweight, unguided, missile of intercontinental range to be launched into a ballistic trajectory from a large launching tube. Essentially a giant

  • June 29, 1965: Astronaut Engle Breaks X-15 Record

    Captain Joseph Engle reached 280,600 feet (53 miles) in the X-15 No. 3, becoming the third Air Force winged astronaut, the youngest pilot, and the first civilian to receive astronaut wings. He went on to fly two other X-15 flights that would have qualified him for this honor.The North American

  • June 28, 2016: AFMC Implements New Pay System

    Air Force Test Center/Directorate of Personnel reported the conversion to the Department of Defense Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo) employees appraisal and pay system complete. The conversion effort included a majority of civilians assigned to Air Force

  • June 27, 1944: Atomic Bomb Completes Testing

    A final test of the Fat Man’s internal parachute system completed the Project A aerodynamic test series of atomic weapons ballistic shapes. The Fat Man weapon was subsequently detonated over Hiroshima, Japan.Fat Man was the code name for the nuclear bomb that was detonated over the Japanese city of

  • June 26, 1946: Terminology Changes by Aeronautics Board

    The United States Army Air Forces and the Navy adopted the terms “knot” and “nautical mile” as standard aeronautical units of speed and distance, vice the statute of  “miles per hour.”  The Civil Aeronautics Board was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and

  • June 25, 1951: Air Force Flight Test Center Activates At Edwards

    The Air Force Flight Test Center activated at Edwards Air Force Base. The 2759th Experimental Wing and its two Experimental Groups (the 3076th and the 3077th) inactivated.  Besides simply conducting flight tests of aircraft, power plants and other components, the new Center held the responsibility

  • June 24, 1961: Caravelle Aircraft Returns from Paris Airshow

    A Sud Caravelle jet airliner returned to the Air Force Flight Test Center following a visit to the Paris Air Show. The aircraft, nicknamed “Santa Maria,” the short-to-medium-haul aircraft spent a year at Edwards Air Force Base undergoing installation and flight testing of two General Electric

Search - On This Day in Test History