108 Fun Facts About Air Force

In what year did the US Air Force become an independent branch of the armed forces?

The National Security Act of 1947 split the Army Air Forces off as a separate service; the US Air Force formally came into being on 18 September 1947.

The Air Force traces its origins to 1 August 1907 as a division of which Army branch?

The Aeronautical Division of the Signal Corps was set up on 1 August 1907 with one officer and two enlisted men; it became the Aviation Section, Air Service, Air Corps and Army Air Forces before independence.

Who was the first Secretary of the Air Force?

W. Stuart Symington, previously Assistant Secretary of War for Air, was sworn in as the first Secretary of the Air Force on 18 September, the date the service counts as its birthday.

Which supersonic swing-wing bomber entered Air Force service in 1986?

The Rockwell B-1B Lancer, a variable-sweep-wing supersonic bomber, reached initial operational capability with Strategic Air Command at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, in October 1986.

Who is the only person ever to hold the five-star rank of General of the Air Force?

Henry 'Hap' Arnold, wartime chief of the Army Air Forces, was made General of the Army in 1944 and redesignated General of the Air Force in 1949, the only person to hold the rank.

Which Air Force captain broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 in October 1947?

Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 'Glamorous Glennis' just past Mach 1 at about 45,000 feet on 14 October 1947, earning the Collier and Mackay trophies.

Which Air Force base became home to the Red Flag air-combat exercise in 1975?

Nellis AFB, Nevada, near Las Vegas, flew the first Red Flag in November 1975 after Vietnam-era analysis showed pilots who survived ten combat missions were far likelier to survive the war.

Where is the US Air Force Academy located?

The Academy sits near Colorado Springs, Colorado, just north of the city; its first class trained at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver from 1955 until the permanent campus opened in 1958.

In which year did the Air Force Academy graduate its first class?

It is the youngest of the five service academies but third in seniority.

What is the name of the Air Force's official aerial demonstration squadron?

The Thunderbirds were formed at Luke Air Force Base in 1953 and moved to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in 1956.

Which aircraft did the USAF demonstration squadron adopt for the 1983 season?

The Thunderbirds adopted the F-16 Fighting Falcon for the 1983 season after the January 1982 'Diamond Crash' killed four pilots flying T-38 Talons.

What is the call sign of any USAF aircraft carrying the President?

'Air Force One' was adopted after a 1953 incident in which Eisenhower's Lockheed Constellation, flying as Air Force 8610, shared airspace with an Eastern Air Lines flight using the same number.

The distinctive blue-and-white presidential livery introduced in 1962 was designed by whom?

Industrial designer Raymond Loewy worked with President Kennedy on the blue-and-white scheme, which debuted in 1962 on SAM 26000, a Boeing 707 variant.

The presidential VC-25A jets delivered in 1990 are modified versions of which airliner?

The two VC-25A jets delivered in 1990 are heavily modified Boeing 747-200B airframes with aerial-refuelling capability and hardened communications.

What was the nickname of the first purpose-built presidential aircraft, which flew FDR to Yalta?

The Douglas VC-54C 'The Sacred Cow' flew Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945; Truman used it until 1947, signing the National Security Act aboard.

The US Space Force, spun out of the Air Force, was established on what date?

The Space Force was established on 20 December 2019 when the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act was signed, the first new branch since the Air Force in 1947.

What was the name of the shade chosen for the Air Force's first dress uniform?

Uxbridge blue, shade 1683, was developed at the Bachman-Uxbridge Worsted Company in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, for the new service's blue dress uniform.

At which pay grade does an enlisted airman become a non-commissioned officer?

In the Air Force an airman becomes a non-commissioned officer at E-5, staff sergeant; the Army, Marines and Navy confer NCO or petty-officer status at E-4.

Who became the first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force in 1967?

Paul Airey, a former B-24 radio operator-gunner held as a prisoner of war in Germany, became the first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force on 3 April 1967, serving until 1969.

Which bomber entered Air Force service in 1955?

The B-52 Stratofortress entered service in 1955; the H models, all built between 1960 and 1962, were upgraded to serve into the 2050s. Crews call it the BUFF.

How many engines does the B-52 have?

The B-52's eight Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans hang in four twin pods beneath wings swept at 35 degrees.

How many B-2 Spirit stealth bombers were built?

Only 21 B-2 Spirits were built after Congress cut the planned buy of 132 as the Cold War ended; programme cost averaged about $2.1 billion per aircraft.

The B-2 was first used in combat during which conflict?

The B-2 Spirit first flew in combat on 24 March 1999 in the Kosovo War, striking Serbian targets on round trips from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, better known as the Warthog, was designed around which weapon?

The A-10 was built around the GAU-8/A Avenger, a 30 mm rotary cannon firing up to 3,900 rounds a minute; it is the only USAF production aircraft designed solely for close air support.

Which base is home to the US Air Force Test Pilot School?

The US Air Force Test Pilot School moved to Edwards AFB, California, in 1951; the base's Rogers Dry Lake runways also hosted the X-15 rocket-plane programme.

How many F-22 Raptors were ultimately built after the programme was cut in 2009?

In all 195 F-22 Raptors were built, eight test aircraft and 187 operational jets, against an original plan for 750 and a later requirement of 381.

The F-22 first saw combat in 2014 during airstrikes in which country?

The F-22 Raptor flew its first combat missions on 22-23 September 2014, striking Islamic State targets in Syria; it had reached initial operational capability in December 2005.

How many SR-71 Blackbirds were built?

Lockheed built 32 SR-71 Blackbirds; twelve were lost in accidents and none to enemy action over a career that ended with the Air Force in 1998.

How long did the SR-71's record 1974 New York to London flight take?

On 1 September 1974 an SR-71 flew New York to London in 1 hour 55 minutes (1:54:56), averaging about 1,800 mph en route to the Farnborough air show.

The SR-71 was developed by which famous Lockheed division?

Lockheed's Skunk Works, the advanced-projects unit run by Kelly Johnson, designed the SR-71; it was revealed in July 1964 and entered service in January 1966.

The Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group earned which nickname from the paint on their aircraft?

The 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of its P-51 Mustangs bright red, earning the nickname Red Tails from the bomber crews they escorted.

Which unit was the first black flying unit, and the first to deploy overseas in April 1943?

The 99th Pursuit Squadron, activated in 1941 and later redesignated the 99th Fighter Squadron, reached North Africa in April 1943 flying P-40 Warhawks before moving to Sicily and Italy.

The B-29 Enola Gay was named after whom?

Colonel Paul Tibbets named the B-29 after the pilot's mother, Enola Gay Tibbets; the restored aircraft is displayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Which aircraft dropped the second atomic bomb, on Nagasaki?

Bockscar, flown by Major Charles Sweeney, dropped 'Fat Man' on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 after clouds and smoke hid the primary target, Kokura.

How many B-25 bombers took part in the 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo?

All 16 B-25 Mitchells launched from the carrier USS Hornet on 18 April 1942, each with a five-man crew, intending to fly on to airfields in China.

What was the US codename for the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49?

Operation Vittles was the US name for the airlift (Britain's was Plainfare); Allied aircraft flew more than 278,000 sorties carrying 2.3 million tons, mostly coal.

Roughly what share of the Berlin Airlift's total tonnage did the US Air Force deliver?

The US Air Force delivered about 76% of the tonnage, roughly 1.78 million of 2.33 million tons; the RAF, with Commonwealth aircrews, carried the rest.

Curtis LeMay led which nuclear-armed organisation from 1948 to 1957?

Curtis LeMay commanded Strategic Air Command from October 1948 to June 1957, building it into a nuclear bomber force; earlier he had directed the March 1945 firebombing of Tokyo.

Whose running mate was Curtis LeMay in the 1968 presidential election?

George Wallace's American Independent Party ticket, with LeMay as running mate, won five Southern states and 46 electoral votes in 1968.

The official Air Force song, often called 'Wild Blue Yonder', was written by whom?

Robert MacArthur Crawford's entry won a 1939 Liberty magazine competition for an Army Air Corps song; originally titled 'Army Air Corps', it became the official Air Force song.

Global Strike Command was set up in 2009 partly in response to what?

Two weapons-handling incidents drove it: live nuclear cruise missiles mistakenly flown on a B-52 from Minot to Barksdale in 2007, and ICBM fuze components shipped to Taiwan in 2006.

Area 51 was originally acquired by the CIA in 1955 to test which aircraft?

The CIA chose the Groom Lake site in 1955 to test the U-2 spy plane; officially Homey Airport, Area 51 was only acknowledged by the agency in 2013.

Air Force Officer Training School is located at which base?

OTS has been at Maxwell, in Montgomery, since 1993.

The Royal Air Force, the world's first independent air force, was formed on which date?

The RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, seven months before the Armistice.

Britain officially dates the Battle of Britain from 10 July to 31 October of which year?

The Battle of Britain ran from 10 July to 31 October 1940; the Luftwaffe's failure to win air superiority made Hitler postpone and then cancel Operation Sea Lion.

Which trainer did the RAF's Red Arrows adopt in late 1979?

The Red Arrows switched from the Folland Gnat to the BAE Hawk T1 in late 1979 for the 1980 season; their badge shows the Diamond Nine formation.

What was the Air Force's first operational jet bomber?

The North American B-45 Tornado, a four-jet bomber, entered service in 1948 as the Air Force's first operational jet bomber; the swept-wing B-47 Stratojet followed in 1951.

The KC-46A Pegasus tanker began deliveries to Air Force units in which year?

The first KC-46A Pegasus was delivered to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, in January 2019; like the KC-135 it derives from a Boeing airliner, the 767.

Which was the first US operational jet fighter, entering service in 1945?

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, whose prototype was built in 143 days, became the first US operational jet fighter in 1945 and was redesignated F-80 in 1948.

Where does the Air Force rank in order of precedence among the six US armed forces?

The Air Force ranks fourth, after the Army, Marine Corps and Navy and ahead of the Space Force and Coast Guard; it is the second-youngest branch.

Which was the first operational aircraft designed with stealth technology?

The F-117 Nighthawk's faceted shape cut its radar cross-section to roughly 0.001 m²; it entered service in 1983 and flew its first combat mission in the December 1989 invasion of Panama.

Which fighter is credited with over 104 air-to-air victories and no losses in air combat?

The F-15 Eagle first flew in July 1972 and entered service in 1976; Israeli, Saudi and US pilots built its 104-0 air-combat record, and the F-15E strike variant beat the F-16XL in 1984.

Who became the US Air Force's first female fighter pilot in 1993?

Leavitt went on to be the first woman to command a USAF combat fighter wing and later served as the Air Force's Chief of Safety.

The National Museum of the US Air Force, the world's largest military aviation museum, is near which city?

Sited at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, the museum displays more than 360 aircraft and missiles and draws about a million visitors a year.

Which giant transport is the largest aircraft to have flown into McMurdo, Antarctica?

A C-5 Galaxy, with its 222-foot wingspan, first landed near McMurdo Station in 1989, the largest aircraft ever to operate in Antarctica.

The X-37B robotic spaceplane's sixth mission ended in 2022 after how many days in orbit?

OTV-6 landed at Kennedy Space Center on 12 November 2022 after 908 days, then a record for the X-37B; the programme began at NASA in 1999 and moved to the Defense Department in 2004.

The first fixed-wing gunship in Vietnam, nicknamed 'Spooky', was a conversion of which transport?

The AC-47 Spooky, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain fitted with three side-firing 7.62 mm miniguns, began combat missions in late 1964 as the first fixed-wing gunship of the Vietnam War.

In the 1991 Gulf War the F-117 flew about how many sorties against high-value targets in Iraq?

F-117s flew about 1,300 sorties (1,271) in Desert Storm, striking around 1,600 high-value targets; the type had first seen combat over Panama two years earlier.

Which soft-spoken public television host spent 20 years in the Air Force and retired as a master sergeant?

Bob Ross first saw the snow and mountains he later painted while stationed in Alaska. After years as a tough first sergeant, he decided he would not raise his voice once he left the military.

Which air defence organisation's Santa-tracking tradition began with a child's 1955 phone call?

NORAD inherited the tradition from its predecessor CONAD, where Colonel Harry Shoup turned a little girl's call asking for Santa into an annual publicity stunt.

On which target did the Air Force's top-secret 1958 Project A119 plan to detonate a nuclear bomb?

The Moon was chosen so that the flash would be visible from Earth. A young Carl Sagan helped calculate how the dust cloud would spread before the plan was cancelled.

Which country singer intercepted Soviet Morse code in West Germany during his four Air Force years?

Johnny Cash was said to be one of the first Americans to learn of Joseph Stalin's death, receiving the news in Morse code at his listening post in Landsberg.

Which famous adage is named after an engineer on the Air Force's rocket-sled tests of 1948–49?

Murphy's law was popularised by John Stapp, the officer who rode the rocket sled himself. He told reporters nobody had been badly hurt because his team always took it into consideration.

What did airlift pilot Gail Halvorsen drop to Berlin's children on tiny handkerchief parachutes?

Candy made the Air Force pilot a hero of the Berlin Airlift, and children knew his plane because he wiggled its wings. His operation went on to drop over 23 tons of it.

Which Hollywood actor flew B-24 bombers in wartime and retired as an Air Force Reserve brigadier general?

James Stewart became the highest-ranking actor in American military history when he was promoted in 1959. He even flew as an observer on a bombing mission during the Vietnam War.

Which Gemini and Apollo astronaut shot down two MiG-15s as an Air Force fighter pilot in the Korean War?

Buzz Aldrin flew 66 combat missions in Korea. His gun-camera footage of one enemy pilot ejecting from a damaged jet was printed in Life magazine in June 1953.

Which sunglasses brand did Bausch & Lomb create in 1936 from lenses developed for Army Air Corps pilots?

Ray-Ban grew out of work begun in 1929 with Colonel John Macready, who wanted glasses that cut the glare of the sky without fogging up at altitude as goggles did.

Which Air Force-developed technology was opened to civilians after a Korean airliner strayed off course in 1983?

GPS navigation was promised to civilians by President Reagan after Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down in Soviet airspace. Its full constellation of 24 satellites became operational in 1993.

What kind of animal was Ham, the space traveller named after an Air Force laboratory at Holloman?

Chimpanzee number 65 was only renamed Ham once he was safely back on Earth. Officials reportedly feared the bad press if a named animal died on the mission.

Which animals did the Army Air Forces arm with tiny timed incendiary bombs in a Second World War experiment?

Bats proved the idea all too well in 1943, when armed ones were accidentally released and set fire to an Army airfield near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Which Air Force study of UFOs, run from 1952 to 1969, collected more than 12,000 sighting reports?

Project Blue Book concluded that most sightings were misidentified clouds, stars or ordinary aircraft, and found no evidence that any were extraterrestrial vehicles.

Which New Mexico town's Army Air Field announced in 1947 that it had recovered a flying disc?

Roswell became a byword for aliens, but Air Force reports in the 1990s traced the debris to a top-secret balloon train built to listen for Soviet nuclear tests.

Which superhero film stars Brie Larson as Air Force fighter pilot Carol Danvers?

Captain Marvel's screenwriter asked the Air Force whether Larson, cast at 26, was too young to play an accomplished pilot. Two real Air Force pilots appear in the film as themselves.

Which Air Force Academy graduate and former F-4 pilot ditched an airliner on the Hudson River in 2009?

Sully Sullenberger lost both engines to a bird strike, yet all 155 people aboard US Airways Flight 1549 survived.

What do Air Force Reserve crews of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron deliberately fly into?

Hurricanes were first flown into on purpose in 1943, when an instructor bet his RAF students that he could fly into a storm near Houston and come back safely.

Who built the world's first military aeroplane, bought by the US Army for $30,000 in 1909?

The Wright brothers earned $5,000 of that price as a bonus, because their Flyer beat the Army's required 40 miles per hour by two.

How many confirmed aerial victories does a military pilot traditionally need to be called a flying ace?

Five became the benchmark in the First World War, when French newspapers hailed Adolphe Pégoud as the ace after he became the first pilot to down that many German aircraft.

Which aerial salute at military funerals has one aircraft pull up abruptly and leave the rest flying on?

Missing man formation tributes have spread beyond aviation: motorsport stages them in memory of a recently deceased driver, as do American football and ice hockey for players.

What nickname did Claire Chennault's American volunteers earn in shark-faced P-40 fighters over China?

The Flying Tigers were formally a unit of the Republic of China Air Force, with pilots recruited from the US Army Air Corps, Navy and Marine Corps.

Which Merlin-engined American fighter escorted Eighth Air Force bombers on raids over Germany?

The P-51 Mustang owed its new engine to a Rolls-Royce test pilot, who suggested the swap after RAF reports praised the original's performance only at low altitude.

Which B-17 bomber, among the first to complete 25 combat missions, flew home in 1943 to sell war bonds?

Memphis Belle's nose art gained 25 bomb shapes, one for each mission, before her pilot and crew took her on a 31-city tour of America.

Which pilot commanded the B-29 Enola Gay on the atomic bombing mission to Hiroshima in August 1945?

Paul Tibbets had already made history in August 1942, co-piloting the lead plane on the first American daylight heavy-bomber mission against German-occupied Europe.

Which big-band leader vanished over the English Channel in 1944 while serving as an Army Air Forces major?

Glenn Miller led an Army Air Forces orchestra that added a full string section to a big band, making it the forerunner of many US military big bands.

Which satirical novel did Joseph Heller draw from his 60 missions as an Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier?

Catch-22 got its number late: just before publication the title was changed to avoid confusion with Leon Uris's new novel Mila 18.

Which science-fiction television writer flew 89 combat missions as an Army Air Forces B-17 pilot?

Gene Roddenberry worked as a commercial pilot after the war, then joined the Los Angeles Police Department, where he began to write for television.

Which nickname did German ace Manfred von Richthofen earn from his title and his brightly painted aircraft?

The Red Baron was officially credited with 80 victories, yet only 19 of them came in the Fokker triplane he is popularly linked with.

Which children's author flew RAF fighters in the Second World War and rose to acting wing commander?

Roald Dahl came to believe that the head injury he suffered in a wartime crash had sparked his creative genius, and the crash was the subject of his first published work.

Which former racing driver became America's top flying ace of the First World War with 26 aerial victories?

Eddie Rickenbacker received the Medal of Honor for his wartime flying and later spent many years as the head of Eastern Air Lines.

Which air power advocate was court-martialled in 1925 after accusing Army and Navy leaders of near-treason?

Billy Mitchell had staged bombing runs on anchored warships to prove that aircraft could sink battleships. He became the first person to have an American military aircraft design, the B-25, named after him.

Which organisation of women pilots ferried wartime military aircraft but only gained veteran status in 1977?

WASP members flew aircraft from the factories to military bases and towed aerial targets, freeing men for combat, and 38 of them died in the course of those duties.

Which mountain range did Army Air Forces crews cross on the wartime supply route nicknamed the Hump?

The Himalayas airlift carried about 650,000 tons of supplies from India to China in 42 months, flown without reliable charts or radio aids.

Which Navy aircraft carrier launched the Army's B-25 bombers on the 1942 Doolittle Raid against Tokyo?

USS Hornet had tried the idea out that February, when two B-25s were loaded aboard at Norfolk and flown off her deck without difficulty.

Which American swept-wing jet fighter duelled Soviet-built MiG-15s in the skies over Korea?

The F-86 Sabre borrowed from German wartime research: its automatic wing slats were based on those of the Messerschmitt Me 262.

Which Air Force officer's 1960 skydive from a balloon at 102,800 feet stood as a record until 2012?

Joe Kittinger, aged 84, was the capsule communicator who directed Felix Baumgartner through the 24-mile freefall that finally broke the record.

Which rocket-powered research plane set a speed record for crewed, powered aircraft of Mach 6.7?

The X-15 was dropped from under a bomber's wing, and several of its pilots flew above 50 miles, the height at which the Air Force counts a pilot as an astronaut.

Which flagword, also the title of a 1996 John Travolta film, reports an accident involving a nuclear weapon?

Broken Arrow has had to be used more often than most people imagine: the Defense Department officially recognises at least 32 such accidents between 1950 and 1980.

Which Air Force reconnaissance drone was modified to carry Hellfire missiles, first test-fired in 2001?

The MQ-1 Predator hit a stationary tank with all three Hellfire missiles in one February 2001 test, turning an unmanned scout into a strike aircraft.

In which country was the giant Air Force-developed MOAB bomb first dropped in combat in 2017?

Afghanistan was the target, where the bomb struck a tunnel complex used by an Islamic State offshoot. MOAB stands for Massive Ordnance Air Blast, and it had first been tested 14 years earlier.

Which Air Force jet takes its name from the twin-engined Lockheed P-38 fighter of the Second World War?

The F-35 Lightning II has picked up less official names as well: some Air Force pilots call it the Panther, and other nicknames include Fat Amy and Battle Penguin.

Which volunteer body, created days before Pearl Harbor, is the Air Force's official civilian auxiliary?

Civil Air Patrol crews flew anti-submarine patrols during the war, but the charter that made it the Air Force's auxiliary in 1948 bars it from ever again taking part in direct combat.

Which Virginia county, home to the Pentagon, holds the three soaring steel spires of the Air Force Memorial?

Arlington's memorial evokes the contrails of jets peeling apart in a 'bomb burst' manoeuvre, and its tallest spire reaches 270 feet.

Which Air Force special warfare airmen earn a maroon beret that symbolises blood sacrificed by comrades?

Pararescuemen were authorised their beret in 1966, making it only the second in the US military approved for universal wear, after that of the Army Special Forces.

What code name does the Air Force give aircraft that hunt enemy radar and surface-to-air missile sites?

Wild Weasel replaced the original name, Project Ferret, because Ferret had already been used for radar-countermeasures bombers in the Second World War.

Which triple-ace pilot's non-regulation handlebar moustache in Vietnam inspired the Air Force's Mustache March?

Robin Olds wore it as a gesture of defiance until the Air Force Chief of Staff ordered it off. Airmen now grow moustaches each March as a good-natured protest against facial hair rules.

Which wartime commander of the Tuskegee Airmen became the Air Force's first African-American general?

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. had endured years of silent treatment at West Point, where classmates rarely spoke to him outside the line of duty in the hope of driving him out.

Which Air Force colonel became the first woman to pilot, and later to command, a Space Shuttle mission?

Eileen Collins had been one of only four women chosen for her Air Force pilot training class, and she flew a transport during the 1983 invasion of Grenada.

Which science-fiction series featured two successive Air Force Chiefs of Staff appearing as themselves?

Stargate SG-1 lead actor Richard Dean Anderson was made an honorary brigadier general by one of them, General John Jumper, to match his character's promotion on screen.

Which Medal of Honor pilot was America's top ace of the Second World War, downing 40 Japanese aircraft?

Richard Bong was once grounded for breaking flying rules on a day when fellow pilots looped the Golden Gate Bridge. He died in 1945 while testing a jet fighter.